The OpalEye Chronicles: The Code of the Dragon
by pineappletop92
Summary: It's fourth year and Endaira Rezagrats has returned to Hogwarts with Darren and Persephone. While the Triwizard Tournament has the interest of the school, Endaira has found her own mystery to solve. SEQUAL to When Dragon Flames.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Anything you may recognize as the works of Ms. J. K. Rowling or Mr. Christopher Paolini do not belong to me in any way possible. Other things may be recognized as well, so take care to note that these, too, are not of my possession, but just of my use in this story. Finally, any character that is not recognized, and the plot-line, belongs to yours truly._

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The OpalEye Chronicles

**The Code of The Dragon**

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**Chapter One**

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"Endaira, you've changed."

Endaira Rezagrats looked at her friend, Hikari Moon. "Of course I have. A lot has happened to me."

And a lot had happened to her. A year ago, Endy had bonded with a dragon. Yes, a dragon. It was an Antipodean Opaleye, to be exact. Endaira then learned that she was a witch and would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the same year as the famous trio from the books by J. K. Rowling. There, she had learned magic, made friends, and even learned to fly Selena, the dragon. At the end of the year, Endaira and Selena had reluctantly gone before Lord Voldemort to try and save Ron Weasley's older brother, Charlie. They were successful, but Endy had been seriously wounded. When she awoke, she was in St. Mungo's Hospital and Alfred Murtogh, the Death Eater who had nearly killed her, was in Azkaban prison.

"Endaira, you don't talk to us anymore. You just sit there quietly, lost in your own thoughts. What's bothering you?" asked her other friend, Arasik Fletcher.

"I miss Selena. That's all." It was true. Due to her size, Selena wasn't allowed to travel home to America with Endy and had to stay behind at Hogwarts.

It was now the beginning of August. Outside the library window, the high summer sun shone brightly on the faded green lawn. In two weeks, Endaira would be leaving to go to Diagon Alley to get her new school things.

"When are we going to meet your dragon?" Hikari asked.

Endaira shrugged. "When they let her come home."

"I'm bored," Ara sighed. They were sitting at a table in the teens' section of the local library. Arasik had good reasons to be bored. There were no books of any interest to be found in the library. She stood up. "Let's go outside."

Endaira and Hikari stood up and followed her out of the library. They walked on the sidewalk as cars whizzed by them on the busy street.

"Where can we go?" Endaira asked.

"We could walk to the bowling alley. It's right down here," Hikari said, pointing to the right.

Endaira looked at Arasik and they shrugged.

"I've got money," Ara said and Endy nodded in agreement.

"Should I call my mom to let her know where we're going?" Endy asked, pulling out her cellphone.

"Whatever suits you."

Endaira flipped open her cellphone and scrolled down her address book until she got to "Home." She pressed "call" and waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?" came her sister's voice.

"Anale? Could you put mom on the phone?"

"Hold on."

She waited. "Endy?"

"Mom, we're heading over to the bowling alley. Is that alright with you?"

"Do you have money?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Just call me before you leave.

Endaira rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mom. Bye."

She hung up and closed her phone, shoving it back in her pocket. "Okay, let's go."

-----

"Strike!"

"Nice one, Kari!" Ara called.

"Hey, I got the fries," Endaira said, setting the tray down on the table and shoving a fry in her mouth.

"Hey, Endy?" Arasik said.

"Yeah?"

"Is Fred hot?"

"What?!"

"Well, is he?"

"Yeah, and what about George?" Hikari asked.

Endaira glared at her friends and shook her head. "They're both ugly, happy?"

"No," came the reply.

Endy sighed.

"Fine. They're both hot. Now is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes."

She groaned. Her friends were hopeless.

"Hey! What are you going to wear to the Yule Ball, Endy?" Hikari asked.

"Dress robes."

"But what color?"

"I don't know. I'll see when I get them."

"I wonder who's going to ask you to the ball," Ara said. To Kari, she added, "Can't you just see her going with Harry?"

"Eugh! No! Oh, my turn."

Endaira grabbed a bowling ball and stepped up to the lane. She swung her arm back and brought the ball forward, letting go of it. It landed on the lane with a thud and sped down the center. It veered to the left near the end and hit a single pin. Endy waited for the pins to be reset before she took another turn. This time, five pins were knocked over.

"Your turn, Kari."

While Hikari took her turn, Arasik turned to Endaira.

"So. Any cute boys there? Anyone you like?"

Endaira thought. _Anyone I like?_ Her thoughts traveled to a certain boy. She must have smiled, because Arasik gasped.

"Who is it? You have to tell me!"

"No, I don't," Endy replied. "It's your turn."

Arasik glared at her, but stood up. "You'd better tell me."

"Tell her what?" Hikari asked, taking Ara's vacant seat.

"Nothing," Endy said.

Hikari narrowed her eyes at her friend, but said nothing more. Endaira let her gaze wander away from the bowling lanes to the doors leading outside. It took her a moment to realize that perched in the tree by the doors was a white owl.

She stood up, grabbed a few French fries, and headed for the doors.

"Hey!" Hikari called. "Where are you going? It's your turn!"

Endaira looked over her shoulder and pointed in the direction of the doors. Hikari's expression remained confused. Endy just rolled her eyes and walked out the sliding motion-censored doors.

With a hoot, Hedwig flew down from her perch to land on Endy's out-stretched arm. She offered the owl the French fries and took the letter from Hedwig.

Sitting on a nearby bench, Endaira opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment inside. She recognized Hermione's handwriting and smiled.

_Dear Endaira,_

_I'm using Hedwig with Harry's permission. I would have used Pig, but I'm not sure he could have survived the journey. _

_We're going to the Quidditch World Cup tomorrow. Although, I suppose by the time this letter reaches you, it will be long over. You probably know the outcome already, right?_

_I cannot wait until the start of term._

_Write back soon!_

_-__Hermione_

Endy searched her pockets and found what she was looking for. A pen.

Turning the parchment over, she wrote back.

_Hey Hermione!_

_How was the match? I doubt the after-party was fun, though. What with the main attraction being the Dark Mark._

_I'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron in two weeks to get my school things. This year we have to get dress robes. _

_I have to go now. We're bowling, and it's my turn._

_-__Endy_

Endaira put the parchment back in the envelope and gave it to Hedwig. Unfurling her wings, the snowy owl took off, quickly disappearing over the top of the building across the street.

-----

"I'm home!" Endy called as she opened the door.

"How was it?" her mother asked from the kitchen.

"Fine," Endy answered as she walked into the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table reading the mail and her father was cooking dinner. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with ice and water. "What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti and meat sauce," Mr. Rezagrats answered.

"Okay." Endaira headed downstairs and sat down at the computer desk in the Rezagrats's library. She logged on and went to check her e-mail. There were five messages in all, the computer said. Three were junk mail, so she quickly deleted those. The other two were from Persephone Williams and Darren Cay, the other two Dragon Riders from America who attended Hogwarts with Endy.

She clicked on the one from Persephone first.

_How are you getting to England? Knight Bus again? Or a more Muggle way?_

Endaira frowned. She clicked "reply" and typed back.

_Don't know. I guess Knight Bus, most likely. E-mail me back, soon, okay?_

She clicked "send" and then opened the e-mail from Darren.

_Hey. It's been a while, but there's a lot going on. Mr. Pearson is having trouble finding me a new foster home, so until them, I'm stuck in this orphanage. The owners are alright, I suppose. There just too many kids. And it smells._

_Right now I'm at the local library. This is the only computer the have, so I've got to go._

_See you soon._

Endy smiled, even though she wished that Darren didn't have to go through all of that. Ever since his family had been murdered, he had been in the foster-care program. Endaira was probably the only one at school who knew.

_Hey! Great hearing from you. I miss you. I can't wait till term starts. Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron before the train leaves? I am. I'm leaving in two weeks. Hopefully, I'll see you there._

Endaira hit "send" just as a new, smaller, window popped up. It was an Instant Message from Arasik.

_AraSparrow404: so, r u gonna tell me hu u like?_

Endaira sighed and typed back.

_Dragonstar296: no_

_AraSparrow404: y not?_

"Endaira! Dinner!"

_Dragonstar296: gtg. Dinner._

Quickly, she signed off and ran upstairs to the kitchen for dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

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The bustling street of Diagon Alley was full of wizards, witches, and Hogwarts students shopping for school supplies. On many store-front windows were large signs depicting a vast Dark Mark hanging above the treetops and the Quidditch World Cup.

Endaira made her way to Flourish and Blotts, having already stopped by Gringotts. This year she needed to buy _The Standard Book of Spell, Grade 4_, and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts book. After making her purchases, she wandered over to the Apothecary. She needed to replenish her supply of mugwort and bat wings. Once she was done there, she headed over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

The door opened with a jingle. Madam Malkin looked up from the counter and smiled at her.

"Hogwarts, dear? I suppose you're here for your dress robes," she said, smiling at Endy. "I'll be right with you. Just have to finish ringing Mrs. Weasley up."

It was then that Endaira noticed the plump lady holding a bundle of bags with bright red hair. She smiled at Endaira, who smiled back.

Once Mrs. Weasley left the store, Madam Malkin came over.

"Would you like me to pick some things out for you? Or would you like to look yourself?"

"Just point me in the direction of the dress robes, please" Endaira replied, smiling. "If I can't find anything, I'd love your help."

"Right over there, deary," she said, pointing to the back right corner of the store. "If you need anything, just holler."

"Thank you."

Endaira wandered over to the dress robes section and began browsing through the assortment of colors. After a while, she found two that she really liked. One was bright yellow with orange trimming and the other was a deep purple with a scattering of silver stars along the hem.

She brought them up front to Madam Malkin.

"Which do you think I should get?" she asked her.

"Hmm . . ." the store owner pondered, tapping a finger on her chin. "Well, I'd say you look good in the yellow, but the purple one really brings out your eyes. So I'd say, that one." She pointed to the purple dress robes.

"Thank you." Endaira purchased the dress robes and left the shop with another jingle.

Dark shadows were beginning to gather on the street as many shoppers left with their purchases. Endy made her way down Diagon Alley to the Leaky Cauldron. Quickly, she ran upstairs and dropped her bags off in her room before heading back downstairs for dinner.

As she was sitting at the corner table, eating her dinner, a pair of hands clasped over her eyes and a voice whispered in her ear.

"Guess who?"

Endaira shrieked. "Darren!" She toppled her chair over and threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her back.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Endy," he murmured in her ear.

Endaira let go and stepped back. "You've grown."

He laughed. "Of course I have. What did you think I'd do? Shrink?"

Endaira just laughed and rolled her eyes at him. She gestured to the seat across from her. "Sit. Have you had anything to eat?"

"Yeah. I ate before I left. Just got here, actually," Darren told her as he took his seat.

"Oh, so you haven't gotten your school supplies yet?"

"Nope."

"Great. I'll come with you. I was planning on going back to Diagon Alley, anyway, just to look around."

The two of them spent the rest night talking. Around them, customers slowly left for home or bed. Tom, the innkeeper, went around cleaning the tables and the candles started to burn out. Endaira and Darren headed upstairs and parted on the second floor.

"Goodnight, Darren."

"Night, Endy."

Darren watched her go into her room and shut the door. He sighed. He had wanted to ask her, but he had chickened out. He told himself that it was too early, anyway. Wasn't it?

Endaira walked over to the window and leaned against the sill. The smell of a late summer night wafted in on a breeze that stirred the curtains, and the darkness filled the night, covering London like a blanket.

-----

The next morning dawned bright and early. Endy headed down to breakfast where she met up with Darren. Just as they were preparing to leave for Diagon Alley, a loud shriek stopped them in their tracks.

"Darren! Endaira!"

The two of the turned around just in time to see a bunch of blonde hair flying at them. Suddenly they were being strangled in a hug.

"Persephone!" Endy gasped. "We can't breathe!"

Persephone let go of them, a smile shining on her face. "Oh my, gawd! It's been so long!"

"Yeah," Darren said, massaging his neck. "Two months is _such_ a long time."

"We're heading out to Diagon Alley," Endy told Persephone. "Want to come with?"

"Sure!" Persephone exclaimed. At times, she could be a real prep.

The three of them went out back and Endaira tapped the brick wall with her wand. The wall disappeared to reveal Diagon Alley. Persephone and Darren started for Gringotts and Endaira told them to meet up with her outside Flourish and Blotts.

The bookstore was almost empty at this time of day, save for a lone witch looking in the magical cookbook section. Endaira started wandering down the aisles, looking at the different book titles, often pulling out ones that sounded promising, but quickly ended up back on the shelf.

Endaira soon found herself at the back of the shop, where most of the shelves were bare except for a thick layer of dust. At first Endy thought there was nothing back here, but then she spotted something on the bottom shelf of the last bookcase.

She knelt down and turned her head sideways to try and get a glimpse of the title. However, it appeared that there was no title on the spine. Gently, she pulled the book from the shelf and turned it face up. A thick layer of dust coated it, distorting the words. Endaira blew hard and the dust flew, making her sneeze. Once her sneezing fit had passed, Endaira looked at the cover of the mysterious book.

It had a leather cover with intricate designs along the edges and in the corners that looked as if they had once been painted silver, but most of the paint had faded away. And in the center there were some words written in a strange language that Endaira didn't recognize.

Turning the book over, Endaira found that the leather popped up and dipped in such a manner that it looked like a handprint. Cautiously, she held her right palm, with its gedwëy ignasia, close to the handprint.

She felt a shock, like static electricity, shoot from the book to her palm. Endy jerked her hand away and stood up, clutching the book in her other hand. She suddenly knew that she had to have this book.

She looked for a price, but finding none, decided that a galleon would be alright. Creeping back to the front of the store, she saw that the clerk was helping the witch with her search for the right cookbook. Quietly, Endy took a bag for the book and placed the galleon on the counter. She then ran out of Flourish and Blotts as fast as possible. She stopped just outside the door and placed the book in the bag she had grabbed.

"Hey!"

Endy looked up to see Darren and Persephone coming towards her.

"Hey, yourself," she replied. "Listen, you guys go ahead. I have to drop something off in my room. I'll be just a second."

Before either of them could say anything, she sped off down the street. When she arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, she quickly ran up the stairs to her room. She opened her trunk, and after moving aside several piles of clothes, threw the bag with the books still in it in the bottom of the trunk. She pushed the clothes back in place, closed the lid, and left the room.

Endy found Darren as he came out of the Apothecary.

"Hey. Where's Persephone?" she asked.

"She didn't need anything form here," he said, indicating the Apothecary. "So she went ahead to Madam Malkin's for her dress robes."

The two of them entered the store to find Persephone purchasing bright, bubble-gun pink dress robes.

"Well, I guess I have to go find my robes," Darren said, glowering at the idea of wearing anything that resembled a dress. He slouched off in the direction Endaira pointed.

Having finished purchasing her dress robes, Persephone came over to sit with Endaira.

"Oh, mine are so pretty!" she exclaimed. "You have to show me yours"

"When we get back to the Leaky Cauldron," Endy assured her. They sat there talking about their summers while Darren looked for his robes.

"What's taking him so long?" Persephone asked, glancing at her watch.

"I don't know," Endy said, standing up. "I'll go check."

She headed to the dress robes section, where she found Darren debating between black robes and brown robes.

"Which one?" he asked her, holding them up for her to see.

Endaira shook her head. "Neither." She went over to the rack of robes and after gazing over the assortment, she pulled out dark blue robes with silver lining. She held them out to Darren.

"Here, hold these up," she instructed.

Grudgingly, he obliged. Endaira eyes were instantly drawn to his. With the dress robes, the blue in his eyes seemed to stand out more.

"Definitely these," she said, breaking eye contact with him.

After Darren made his purchase, the three of them headed over to Florean Fortesque's for some ice cream. Afterwards, they went back to the Leaky Cauldron so that Darren and Persephone could drop off their purchases and Endaira could show Persephone her dress robes.

"Oh! They're so pretty!" Persephone exclaimed.

"Thanks, I like yours too," Endy lied. In reality, she hated the shade of pink. She folded her dress robes and put them back in her trunk. For a fleeting moment she thought of the book, but decided to look at it later. Now wasn't the time.

-----

**_A/N: You can see a picture of Endy's dress robes by going to my profile and clicking the link. You can't miss it._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

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The scarlet engine whistled as doors shut and it began to move. Parents and younger siblings waved goodbye to the students leaving for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Endaira watched them from her compartment window until they disappeared as the Hogwarts Express rounded the bend.

The three of them had found an empty compartment near the back of the train. As the train sped along, several people stopped by to say hello. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown came in to greet Persephone and Hermione came in to strangle Endaira in a hug. After the trolley came with the food, three unwanted people showed up at their compartment door.

"Well, well, well," sneered Draco Malfoy. "If it isn't the American Mudbloods." He scrunched his nose as if he smelled something unpleasant. "I don't suppose you know what's going on at Hogwarts this year, either."

"As a matter of fact, blondie, we do," Endy replied coolly. She stood up. "Now, leave."

"Why should I, Jew?"

Endaira made to hit him, but Persephone stopped her. "It's not worth it, Endy."

Endaira glared at her and sat back down. Laughing, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle left the compartment. She looked over at Darren and saw that he had his teeth clenched and his hands were balled into fists.

She turned away and stood up. From her trunk she grabbed her school robes. "I'm going to change."

She left the compartment and headed for the restroom. Finding it vacant, she quickly changed and headed back to the compartment. Upon entering she found it empty.

Endaira put her clothes in her trunk and sat down. She looked out the window and saw that the sky was turning darker.

_Endaira!_

She sat up straighter. _Selena!_

_I've missed you!_

_I missed you, too!_

_You must come visit me, _Selena said.

_I will. Tonight. After dinner._

Endaira jumped as the compartment door opened. She looked up to see Darren coming in, dressed in his robes.

"Where's Persephone?" he asked, sitting down. Endaira shrugged and continued looking out the window, smiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Darren scrutinizing her. His eyes widened.

"You spoke to Selena!"

Grinning, she nodded. He was silent for a while. A grin appeared on his face as he made contact with the Common Welsh Green dragon he had bonded with, Lenora.

"Oh my gawd!" Persephone shrieked, bounding into the compartment. "Hermes just contacted me!"

Endaira nodded as the train began to slow down. The three Americans stood up and went out into the hall. Finally, the train came to a complete stop. Quickly they got off the train and ran to the line of waiting carriages through a downpour of icy rain. Persephone climbed in one, with Darren behind her. He looked briefly at the place where the horses should have been, but weren't, and shuddered.

Endaira touched his arm lightly. He looked down at her and she gave him an encouraging smile. Returning the smile, he sat down inside the carriage. She climbed in after him. As soon as the doors closed their carriage began to move in the direction of Hogwarts. In minutes they arrived at the front of the castle. They ran inside and entered the Great Hall with its four house tables, floating candles, and the staff table.

Endaira and Persephone started for the Gryffindor table, but Darren stopped them.

"Let's ask Dumbledore if we could visit the dragons with Hagrid after the feast, first."

The girls nodded and followed Darren to the staff table.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore?" Darren asked.

The great headmaster looked down at him through half-moon spectacles. "Yes, Darren?"

"We were wondering, sir, would it be alright if we visited our dragons after dinner? With Hagrid, of course."

Professor Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I don't see why not. Wait for Hagrid at the front doors. I'll inform him during the feast."

"Thank you!" the three of them cried and ran to get seats at the Gryffindor table before the Sorting started.

Endaira waited impatiently as the Sorting Hat sang its song and one by one the first years were Sorted into their houses. Finally, the food appeared and she dug in. Hermione refused to eat, however, because it was made by "slave labor."

"Don't worry," she heard Darren telling Ron and Harry. "Soon you'll want to _spew_."

Endaira rolled her eyes at him. "Nice hint."

Dessert came and soon all the food was gone. Dumbledore stood up to make his speech. Just as he was about to announce what was to take place at Hogwarts, the doors opened with a bang.

All heads turned to look at the man who stood in the doorway. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed overhead. Slowly, the man made his way towards the staff table, each step ending with a clunk.

Another bolt of lightening revealed his face to the sea of students. Endaira could see the man's scarred face and eyes of different size. She knew that this man was not who he appeared to be.

The man went up to Dumbledore and sat down. As he began to eat, the headmaster turned back to the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Moody."

No one clapped, except for Dumbledore and Hagrid. Everyone just stared. Endaira yawned and shifted in her seat.

Finally, Dumbledore went on with his speech about the Triwizard Tournament. Endy could have cared less. She wasn't of age, and she already knew what was in store for the Champions.

Much to Endaira's relief, Dumbledore decided that it was time for them to go to bed. Darren, Persephone and she joined the crowd of students heading for the doors. While most students ascended the marble stairs or headed in the direction of the dungeons and kitchens, the three of them stood by the great oak doors leading outside.

Finally, the tall half-giant parted from the crowd and walked over to them.

"So, are yeh three ready?" Hagrid asked, beaming down at them.

"Yes," they chorused.

Hagrid opened the doors and the four of them made for the Forbidden Forest, covering their faces from the driving wind and rain. Thunder boomed around them and lightening flashed overhead, illuminating the grounds from time to time.

They reached the cover of the trees and the rain lessened. Hagrid led the way into the dense forest, going deeper and deeper until the thunder sounded distant the lightening could barely be seen through the thick foliage.

Up ahead, Endaira could see the clearing in which several large shapes were moving. She ran ahead and burst into the clearing.

_Selena!_

_Endaira!_

The Antipodean Opaleye roared in delight and leaned her head forward. Endaira clasped her arms around the dragon's great neck.

_You've stopped growing, _she remarked.

_Disappointed?_

_No. This size is just perfect._

-----

The next morning was gloomy, but at least there wasn't any rain. Endaira, Persephone, and Darren trudged down to the greenhouses for Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Today they were gathering botobur pus. Afterwards, Persephone left for the castle and Arithmancy while Endy and Darren went to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Ew," Endaira said, cringing, as they spotted the contents of the open crates. "They're worse than the book described."

Darren nodded in agreement and the two of them kept their distance from the Blast-Ended Skrewts. The Slytherins joined them and they began to work on attempting to feed the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Hagrid explained the stings and the suckers to them.

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?"

"People who don't have annoying gits like you to sic them on?" Hermione snapped.

Later, after Divination, Endy, Darren and Persephone quickly caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Hey," Hermione greeted them.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

The six of them turned to see Mafloy. The three Americans stepped back. Malfoy proceeded to read aloud an article from the _Daily Prophet_ about Ron's father. He then made some snide remarks about Ron's mother, which Harry countered.

Darren opened his bag and pulled out a camera.

"Where'd you get that?" Endy asked him.

"Colin Creevey let me borrow it in exchange for a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," Darren told her, opening the shutter. "I also threw in a few Chocolate Frogs for help making the potion that makes the pictures move."

BANG!

Something flew by the three of them. There was another loud BANG.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Professor Moody was limping towards them, his wand pointing at the white ferret shivering on the floor. He spoke with Harry for a bit and then turned on the ferret, who had tried to run away.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, and the ferret flew into the air, came down, and flew back up.

Darren began snapping pictures. He didn't stop until Professor McGonagall came down the stairs. Quickly, he hid the camera in his bag and the three of them headed into the Great Hall, laughing silently to themselves.

Later, after dinner, Persephone headed off in the direction of the library to get a head start on her homework and Darren went to find Colin while Endaira made her way to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Over the past year, this had become one of her favorite spots to just sit and watch the sunrise, sunset, and meet up with Selena for a bit of flying.

Sure enough, the white dragon was waiting for her. Endy ran over and gave her a hug before climbing onto the leather saddle that she had placed in the crook of Selena's neck the previous year. She tightened the leg straps and with a beat of her wings, Selena took off, her iridescent scales catching the light of flickering candles and torches within the castle as they flew over the grounds.

_So, how was your day?_ Selena asked.

_Just fine, Mother,_ Endaira replied sarcastically.

_Fine, then. How was your summer?_

_Spent most of it missing you._

The two of them flew on into the night, a vast sea of stars twinkling above them. Finally, Selena landed on the Astronomy Tower, and Endaira slid off.

"Have a nice flight?"

Endaira spun around and came face to face with the headmaster. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, hello, Professor Dumbledore," she said. "Yes, we did."

"Good. I had seen you two flying from my window and came up here to ask you something."

"Yes, Professor?"

"As you know, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving soon, and I was wondering if you and your dragon – excuse me, _Selena_ – would be willing to welcome them."

"Put on a show?" Endy asked with a grin.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I guess you could say that. If it's all right with the both of you?"

Endaira looked at Selena. _Well?_

_Sure._

She nodded at the headmaster. "We'd be delighted."

"Wonderful. And perhaps your friends would also be interested?"

"I'll ask them," Endaira assured him.

"Thank you." With a sweep of his cloak, Dumbledore left the tower.

_Well, Selena,_ Endaira said as the dragon took flight and she descended the stairs. _It looks like we have some work to do._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

-----

Thursday arrived and they had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with the famed ex-Auror.

_Or so it seems, _Endaira mused to herself as she entered the classroom behind Persephone. She took a seat in the third row, near the door, and Darren took the end seat next to her. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil waved at Persephone and she went to sit with them in the second row.

Professor Moody took roll call and began the lesson. Endaira was glad she had taken a seat in the third row when he took out the jar of spiders. She wasn't too fond of spiders herself, namely large ones. Moody grabbed one of the spiders and pointed his wand at it and muttered, "_Imperio!_"

The spider jumped from his hand and began to do a series of comical routines. The class laughed until Moody silenced them. Finally, he lifted the curse off of the spider and picked up the next one.

"_Crucio!_"

Endaira shuddered as she watched the spider twitch helplessly in pain. She had once been placed under the Cruciatus Curse. It was at the end of last year, and she knew just how much pain it caused.

"Stop it!" Hermione shrieked.

Endaira jumped and looked at her friend. Then she followed Hermione's gaze to rest on Neville Longbottom, whose parents had been tortured by this very curse until they were no better than vegetables.

Moody stopped torturing the spider. He reduced the enlarged spider to its actual size and put it back in the jar.

Endaira knew what was next. _Avada Kedavra . . ._

There was a bright green flash and a rushing sound. The spider was dead.

The rest of the period they spent taking notes until the bell rang for lunch. Endaira and Darren headed down together. Once there, they were joined by Persephone which Endy was glad of, for she had a favor to ask of the two of them.

"Listen," she told them, "Professor Dumbledore wants the dragons and us to put on a show for the other schools when they arrive. You in?"

"Sure," Darren said.

"What'll we do?" Persephone asked.

"We'll meet on Saturday in the common room and talk it over," Endy told her.

"So, how did you like that lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Darren asked taking a sip from his goblet.

"I thought it was interesting," Persephone answered.

"I thought it was disgusting," Endy said at the same time.

"Why?"

"I'm not a big fan of spiders."

Just then, Malfoy walked up the three of them, his goons close at his heels.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Endaira asked, eyes narrowing.

"Nothing which concerns you," he sneered at her. Turning to Darren, he said coolly, "So, I hear you have some pictures, Cay."

Darren narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, ferret."

"Oh, I think you do, Cay. And I want those pictures, or else . . ."

He left the threat hanging in the air before turning and heading back to the Slytherin table with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Don't give into him, Darren," Persephone said as soon as Malfoy was gone.

"Yeah," Endaira added. "He's just a git who think he can always get his way."

Darren nodded, but he glared coldly at the back of Malfoy's blond head, as if he was trying to bore a hole in it. His teeth were clenched and his knuckles were white.

Endaira noticed all of this and sighed.

-----

Later that evening, Endaira made her way to the Astronomy Tower with a candle and her journal. It was the one she had received as a birthday present at the end of term the previous year from Arasik and Hikari. She had promised to write about everything important that happened to her during the school year in it.

Settling down onto the cold stone, she set the candle on the ground next to her and began to write.

_September 7__th_

_Today, Malfoy threatened Darren because of the pictures he took of him as a ferret. I'm worried about Darren, and what Malfoy might try to do to him._

_On a better note, Professor Dumbledore has asked us – that is to say, Persephone, Darren, and me – to put on a show for the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang when they arrive. We're planning to-_

Just then a large gust of wind slammed the door shut. Endaira jumped at the noise, and he quill moved, trailing along the page. The candle sputtered and went out. Suddenly all was dark and eerily quiet. Thick black clouds hung overhead, blocking any moonlight from falling on the castle.

Endaira shivered in the suddenly cold night air. Deciding it would be better to finish inside, where it was warm, she stood up and went over to the door.

"_Eennddaaiirraaa._"

She spun around, looking for the source of the voice. But no one was there. Another gust of wind blew past.

"_Eennnddaaaiirrraaaa!_"

"Hello?" Endy called out, taking a step forward. "Who's there?"

There was nothing but the wind.

"Harry, is that you under your cloak?"

The wind went whistling by her ear.

"Hermione? Malfoy? Who the hell are you?"

Suddenly, there appeared before her a face, made out of some sort of mist. Endaira gaped at it. It hung in the air, staring at her with blank holes for eyes. Then, in a girl's voice, it said:

"_Heelllppp . . ._"

Behind Endaira the door slammed open, and the face disappeared. Endy spun around, and found herself facing Darren.

"Oh, sorry if I was intruding, but I was just going to fly with Lenora for a bit before bed," he said.

Endaira let out a sigh. "It's okay. I was just leaving anyway." She started for the door but he stopped her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Darren asked. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Endaira shook her head at him. "I don't know _what_ I saw." Before he could ask anymore questions, she left.

-----

Images of the ghostly face haunted her dreams that night. All night long she was plagued by the voice that had called her name and asked her for help. When Endaira woke up the next morning, it was to find the sky dark grey and rain pounding at the windows. Even though she didn't want to, she got up and got dressed. Alone, Endy headed down the staircase to the common room, where she found Darren, asleep on the couch.

Going over to him, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and he awoke with a start.

"Hey," she said. "Are you okay?"

Darren rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep down here." He stood up and stretched. Endaira saw his muscles flex beneath his shirt and looked away, heat rising to her cheeks.

"Why were you down here so late in the first place?" she asked him, sitting down on the arm of a nearby chair.

"Well, after Lenora left, I came here to think about . . . things," he told her. He headed for the boys staircase and added, "I'm going to go get changed now, okay? I'll see you at breakfast."

-----

Saturday afternoon, the three Americans were found sitting in a corner of the common room, discussing their plans for their upcoming performance.

"For starters," Endaira said, "I think we should fly out from behind the school. Darren should be in the middle and Persephone and I can go on either side of him."

"Sounds good," Persephone said, writing it down on a piece of parchment.

"Then we could do some flips and turns," Darren suggested, and Persephone added that to the list.

They each put in their own ideas until they had come up with a short routine to do.

"We'll start practicing tomorrow," Endy said, standing up.

"We should do it in the Forbidden Forest," Persephone suggested. "That way, no one will find out what we're doing."

"Great idea," Endy agreed.

"Let's meet tomorrow morning at ten in front of Hagrid's cabin," Darren said.

"Okay," the girls agreed.

Endaira left the common room a few minutes later and headed for the library with her books. There were a few other people in there, including Hermione, who was frantically searching for people to join her S.P.E.W club, which Endy had only agreed to for the sake of friendship. Endy sighed and shook her head at her friend before choosing a seat at a lone table hidden behind the Supernatural section.

Pulling out her Potions essay and a quill and inkwell, Endy began working on it. After about fifteen minutes, her eyes began to wander and came to rest on a book protruding from the shelf in front of her. It took her a moment to realize what she was looking at.

Standing up, Endy went over to the shelf and pulled the thin black book out all the way. It was called _The After Life: Messages from the Beyond._

Curious, Endaira opened it to the table of Contents. She scanned the chapter titles and stopped on the third one. "Contacting the Deceased." She didn't know why, but Endy felt pretty sure that the ghost-like face she saw belonged to a dead person.

Snapping the book shut, Endaira went over to Madame Pince to checkout the book. The librarian seemed reluctant to give up her book, but Endy managed to pry it from her fingers. She left the library and headed up to the Astronomy Tower. The air was relatively warm with a cool breeze. She sat down and opened the first page.

Endy found herself immersed in a world of mysterious contacts from beyond the grave. The book briefly mentioned the difference between ghosts and these other contacts. Ghosts were earth-bound, unable to move on because of unfinished business, while these messages from beyond came from people who had moved on. In most cases, it was to prevent something from happening to a loved one who was still alive. It was also only possible for the deceased to contact the person still alive, and not the other way around. They could only do it in short period, for the gap between the living world and the dead was too great.

Finally, Endy read, only deceased wizards and witches were able to perform this feat. Meaning that whoever was trying to contact Endaira was a witch.

"The only thing I need to find out," Endy muttered to herself, "is who she is, and what she wants from me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

-----

The thirtieth of October arrived shortly, bringing the students and headmasters of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Classes ended half an hour early for Hogwarts students, except for the three Dragon Riders. They were let out fifteen minutes before everyone else so that they could get outside and be ready with the dragons.

Snape grudgingly let them out at the correct time and Persephone, Darren and Endaira headed upstairs. They stopped at the Gryffindor Tower to drop off their books before heading up to the Astronomy Tower, where they would meet the dragons.

None of them noticed that they were being followed.

Once they were sitting on their respective dragons, they took off and flew around until they could see the student body and teachers gather out in front of the castle. The three Dragon Riders and their dragons took their places behind several turrets.

Time flew by and then the signal came. Dumbledore shot gold sparks into the sky. The three dragons shot forward – Selena and Hermes on either side of Lenora – to the sounds of loud cheering and applause. Selena and Hermes left Lenora and all three dragons separated.

In sync, the two dragons carrying the girls dived low towards the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, who scattered and shrieked. Selena and Hermes pulled out of the dive and climbed high into the air again.

While this occurred, Lenora prepared herself to flip over. Darren felt her turn beneath him. They had practiced this so many times it didn't even occur to him to cling to the Common Welshgreen's scaly body.

When their world was fully turned upside down, Darren knew something was wrong. His legs were sliding out of the saddle straps and then he was falling toward the ground.

Endaira turned when she heard a loud shout. What she saw made her gasp. Darren was falling – fast – toward the ground. Lenora was just righting herself in mid-air. Searching for Darren, the dragon spotted him below her and sped into a steep dive. Endy silently urged Selena to follow close behind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Persephone and Hermes in the same position.

Lenora didn't get there in time. Endy and Selena landed beside her, followed by Persephone and Hermes. Endaira scrambled off of the Opaleye and ran over to where Darren lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. His right leg was lying at an odd angle and he was unconscious.

"Move aside!"

Endaira was roughly pushed aside. Looking over she saw that Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were crowded around Darren, concern etched on their faces.

"Is he okay?" Persephone asked Endaira.

"I don't know," she muttered. "How did it happen?"

Something pushed her, causing her to stumble forward. Glancing behind her, she found a green snout in her face. Lenora stared at Endy and then turned her head towards the saddle on her back.

"What is it?"

Endy and Persephone walked over to the dragon and looked at the saddle. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Endy at first, until she looked closer at the leg straps.

"Someone cut them!" she exclaimed, fingering one of the straps.

"Are you sure it just didn't break?" Persephone asked, peering over Endaira's shoulder.

"The cut it too clean," Endy said, showing her. "Besides, how is it possible for _all_ of the straps to break at once?"

"So . . . who cut them?"

"As I always say, revenge _is_ the sweetest thing."

Endaira looked at Persephone and they both glanced behind them. A certain blond ferret was standing some feet away with two gorillas, laughing cruelly.

"Excuse me?" Endaira asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Malfoy stopped laughing and looked at her.

"You heard me," he sneered.

Endaira started for him, but stopped as Professor McGonagall rushed by with a stretcher on which Darren was laid. Endaira watched them pass by her, a twinge in her heart. Once they were gone, Endy looked back at Malfoy. He was _smirking._

"C'mon, Endy," Persephone muttered, tugging on her arm. "We'll deal with Malfoy later."

Endy nodded and allowed herself to be pulled in the direction of the school. Only when she lost sight of Malfoy behind a throng of students did she face forward and briskly walk on her own.

-----

"Madame Pomfrey says that he has a few cracked ribs, a broken leg, and a concussion," Professor McGonagall told the girls outside the Hospital Wing. Professor Dumbledore had left as soon as he saw that Darren was in good hands. He still had to play host to the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students.

"May we see him?" Endaira asked.

Professor McGonagall sighed. "He's still asleep, but, I suppose you may."

Before she could change her mind, Endaira and Persephone rushed into the Hospital Wind to Darren's bedside. The sheets were drawn up around him so that all they could see was his head, resting on the pillow. His face was pale, but his breathing was steady.

"I can't believe Malfoy would do such a thing," Persephone muttered, staring at Darren. "I wouldn't think even _he_ would put another person's life in danger. Especially with all these teachers around. It'd be a free one-way ticket to Azkaban for him if Darren had died."

"Didn't he tell Darren he would take revenge for the pictures he took?" Endaira asked, not wanting to think of Darren dying.

"I have an idea!" Persephone announced, receiving a loud shush from Madame Pomfrey. Lowering her voice, she told Endy her plan.

Just as Endy was agreeing to it, they heard a groan and glanced at the bed. Darren's eyes were opened and he was looking around at his surroundings.

Spotting the girls, he asked them, "What happened?"

"You fell," Endaira told him, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"That's a tough one to answer," Darren told her. "How did I fall? I mean, the leg straps-"

"They were cut," Persephone explained.

"Cut? By who?"

"Who do you think?"

Darren looked at Endaira for a moment before his eyes widened in realization and then narrowed. "Malfoy."

"Ah, Mr. Cay, I see that you're awake," Madame Pomfrey said, walking over with a tray of potions. "Girls, I must ask you to leave while I tend to Mr. Cay."

"Bye, Darren," Endaira said as she and Persephone left.

-----

The next morning at breakfast there seemed to be only one topic on everybody's plate: the Triwizard Tournament. The Goblet of Fire had been set up in the foyer when Endaira came down with Persephone. Fred and George Weasley were just crossing the Age Line when the reached the bottom of the stairs.

They were immediately flung backwards, landing several meters away. With two pops, the twins sprouted two identical beards.

"C'mon," Endy said, side-stepping the crowd of students. "Let's get something to eat. I want to go see Darren."

Upon entering the Great Hall they found that the decorations had changed.

"I forgot," Persephone muttered as they headed for the Gryffindor table. "It's Halloween."

"Hey," Hermione greeted them as she sat down. "How's Darren?"

"Better," Endy replied.

The conversation around them moved on to those who were placing their names in the Goblet. Endaira didn't stay for long. As soon as she had finished her oatmeal with cranberries she left for the Hospital Wing.

"How're you doing?" she asked Darren as she sat in the chair placed beside his bed.

"As good as it can get," he replied. He was sitting up in bed. "Have you _tasted_ those potions of hers?"

Endaira nodded, remembering all too well the unpleasant taste of the potions Madame Pomfrey had stored away.

"When does she say you can go?"

"She said she'll let me leave soon. Tonight they're announcing the Champions," Darren reminded her.

"Oh, I forgot that was tonight," she said. "I'm not sure I want to go."

"Why not?"

"It'll be so . . . awkward."

"Oh, right. 'Cause of Harry."

"I won't stop you if you want to go," she told him.

"Nah. I'd rather not go either, now that I think about it."

"Mr. Cay," Madame Pomfrey said as she passed by to tend to the Weasley twins' beards, "You can leave now."

"Really?" Darren perked up.

"Yes, really. Now go, before I change my mind."

"I'll meet you outside," Endaira said, leaving so that he could get changed.

Five minutes later, Darren appeared outside the Hospital Wind and together they began to make the trek back to the Gryffindor Tower. They walked in silence for a while, until Endaira chose to break it.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Darren." She looked over at him. "I was really scared when I saw you fall, you know."

Darren stopped walking and glanced at her. Endaira stopped also and faced him. He looked thoughtful, as if he was debating about something. Finally, he came to some kind of conclusion and opened his mouth.

"Endaira, I-"

"Thereyou are!"

Darren and Endaira glanced over to see Persephone running down the hall towards them.

"I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaimed when she came to a stop next to them. "Endaira, you left without me!"

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Parvati."

"Whatever. Anyway, I wanted to show you . . ."

Darren watched as Persephone dragged Endaira away. She glanced back at him.

"Sorry," she mouthed.

Darren nodded and turned away with a sigh. He had finally plucked up the nerve to ask her, but his chance had been taken away.

-----

"_Heelllppp . . ._"

Endaira spun around to face the empty corridor. It was later that night, and she was just heading back from dinner. Everyone else was staying to see who the champions would be, but she had slipped out before dessert. She hadn't seen Darren there, and was planning to go look for him when that voice stopped her in her tracks.

"_Enndaiirraaa,_" the voice whispered close to her ear.

"Y-yes?" Endy stammer, slowly turning to face the ghostly apparition. It was just as before, only this time, there was a small bust and wavy hair flowed from her head.

"_You have to help him,_" the girl whispered.

"Help who?"

Just then footsteps could be heard rounding the corner. The girl vanished and Endaira spun around to face the intruder.

"You," she spat at Malfoy. "What are you doing here?"

"Walking," he sneered.

"Shouldn't you be at the feast?" Endaira asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing, Rezagrats. But I figured now would be a good time to ask you about _this._"

He held out a large photo of a familiar bounding ferret. Endaira smirked. Persephone and she had spent the better half of the day slipping the pictures into every girl's lavatory.

"Funny," she told him, "you're not a girl, so how'd you get that picture? Or are you finally coming out of the closet, Draco?"

Malfoy's fist clenched, crumbling the picture. Before Endy realized what was happening, his fist was connecting with her cheek and she fell to the floor.

"Hey!"

Endaira glanced up to see Darren running towards them. He didn't stop until he punched Malfoy square in the jaw, sending him to the floor.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?" he asked. Turning to Endaira, Darren held out a hand. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, taking his hand. He helped her to her feet. Gingerly, Endy put a hand to her cheek, wincing at a brief flare of pain.

"You disgust me," Malfoy sneered from where he lay on the ground, massaging his chin. "Too bad you didn't die when you fell from that stupid dragon of yours."

The next thing Endaira knew, Darren was on top of Malfoy, punching every piece of flesh he could reach. Hearing voices, she turned around to see a crowd of students coming up from the Great Hall. Endaira caught sight of Persephone in the midst, laughing with Lavender Brown about something. The crowd stopped when they saw the three in the middle of the corridor.

Fred and George Weasley stepped forward and grabbed Darren's arms, pulling him off of Malfoy. His nose was bloody and he had several cuts. But Malfoy seemed to have gotten some throws at Darren, whose eye was red and lip was bleeding.

"What's going on, mate?" Fred asked as Darren struggled to get free.

"He hit Endaira," Darren growled. "And he insulted Lenora."

"What?!" George exclaimed. "Well, Fred, I don't see the point in holding him back."

"No, dear brother." Together, they let Darren go, who immediately fell upon Malfoy and continued punching him. Endaira watched until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Hermione looking at her concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm just going to have a nice bruise."

"What is the meaning of this?!" screeched a voice. Professor McGonagall stood in front of the crowd, hands on her hips. Fred and George quickly grabbed Darren again, who struggled until he saw McGonagall and fell quiet.

The professor strode forward, surveying the scene before her.

"You five, come with me," she said. "As for the rest of you, back to your common rooms."

While the rest of the students left, Endaira, Darren, Fred, George, and Malfoy followed Professor McGonagall to her office. Once she had taken her seat behind her desk, she voiced her question.

"What happened?"

"Well, you see-"

"Professor, we-"

"And then I-"

"He started-"

McGonagall held up a hand, silencing them. Turning to Darren, she asked the question again.

"Well, you see, Professor, I saw Malfoy here hit Endaira, and I sort of hit him back," he explained.

"If this true, Mr. Malfoy? You hit Ms. Rezagrats?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her and said coldly, "Yes."

"Very well, then. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Cay, you will both have a detention-"

"But-"

"Not 'buts,' Mr. Cay. Although your intentions were in the right place, using physical means of injuring a person is not tolerable. That brings up another question," she added, turning to the twins who had, until now, almost been forgotten. "What part did you two play in this _fiasco_?"

"We were coming back from dinner-" Fred started.

"-and saw Darren having a go at Malfoy," George added.

"Naturally, being the responsible students that we are-"

At this there were several sounds of disbelief.

"-we took it upon ourselves to control Darren."

"Then, of course, once we heard _why_ he was punching the life out of Malfoy – hitting a _girl_, now really – we thought it only wise to let him finish the job," George finished.

McGonagall pursed her lips. Then she sighed. "Very well. Forty points from Slytherin and Gryffindor-"

"Forty!"

"Professor, that's not fair!"

"I don't care what's fair or not, Mr. Weasley! You and your brother know better than to let Mr. Cay continue beating up Mr. Malfoy, so you each lost ten points! Now, I suggest you two leave my office before I give you detention, too."

They were gone before McGonagall had time to blink.

"Now, as for you three, I want you to go to the Hospital Wing – yes, you, too, Ms. Rezagrats – so that Madame Pomfrey can take care of your injuries. I've already sent word to her, so she's expecting you."

Professor McGonagall said nothing more, so they took that as their cue to leave. Malfoy stalked off ahead of Darren and Endaira.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Endaira said as they walked side by side to the infirmary.

"He hit you, Endy," Darren reminded her. "You know how I feel about _that_."

Endaira nodded, recalling how she had helped Darren out of an abusive foster home the previous.

"Thank you," she told him.

He smiled. "Anytime."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

-----

Darren quickly became the talk of the school. Everywhere he went, people from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw were congratulating him on beating Malfoy to a pulp. The Slytherins, of course, glared at him in passing. They would even try to trip him in the halls, and even added his name to their POTTER STINKS badges so that they now read: CAY AND POTTER STINK.

"Oh, how creative," Endy muttered as they passed by a few Slytherins sporting these badges. "Do your parents put your artwork up on the fridge at home?"

-----

_November 19__th_

_Well, greeting Durmstrang and Beauxbatons couldn't have gone better. Darren fell off of Lenora and broke his leg. Why? His leg straps were cut. How?_

_Malfoy._

_He wanted revenge because Darren took pictures of him when "Moody" turned him into a ferret._

_So, Persephone and I took said pictures and slipped them into all of the girls' lavatories. Malfoy got a hold of one of them and I made a snide remark to him about it, so he punched me. Darren saw and beat the living daylights out of him, though._

_My hero._

_I hope you two are having fun in regular school. 'Cause so far, this year sucks._

_-__Endy_

Endy sat on the cold stone of the Astronomy Tower, watching the sky change colors as the sun set. A crescent moon glowed against the dark blue sky. A single star shined brightly in the sky, all alone, with only the moon for company.

She tried not to think. She cleared her mind of all thought and allowed only the peaceful calm of twilight wash over her. Endy lay down on the floor of the tower. Above her stars began to appear as the sky turned fully black.

-----

When Endaira awoke the next morning, the first thing she saw was blue. It was a grayish-blue color that filled her vision.

Sitting up, she groaned as her body protested at this movement. Everything was stiff and sore. And it was no wonder why. Glancing around at her surroundings, Endy saw that she had fallen asleep on the Astronomy Tower.

Stiffly, she stood up, wincing as her aching back gave a small twinge of pain. She stretched her body and turned towards the sliver of light that was the rising sun. She watched it until the sun was half-visible. Then with a yawn, she turned around and headed back inside.

Endy trudged down to the Gryffindor common room and headed up to the dormitory. The rest of the girls in her year were still sound asleep in their beds, curtains drawn tightly. Endy took a hot shower and slipped into some clean robes before heading down to the Great Hall. She was the only one up at this early hour, so she sat at the Gryffindor table in the empty Great Hall. The hall seemed much bigger when students and teachers weren't in it, talking and eating.

Slowly, the Great Hall began to fill with students. Endy, having finished her own breakfast, sat and worked on the Transfiguration essay that was due on Friday while she waited for her friends to come down to breakfast. Persephone was the first to arrive, and was quick to ask Endy why she hadn't returned to the dormitory the previous night.

"I fell asleep on the Astronomy Tower," Endaira explained.

"How'd you do that?"

Endaira shrugged. Just then Darren showed up, taking a seat across from the two of them and grabbing a slice of toast. The matter of Endaira's whereabouts the previous night was quickly dropped, and the topic of discussion turned to the most recent essay assigned by Professor Snape.

The first task arrived sooner than expected. Endaira sat with Darren and Hermione, who had persuaded Ron to sit with them in the stadium. Each champion came and went, and each won – with a few minor injuries. Hermione and Ron left to talk to Harry. The scores were announced and everyone left, filing out of the stands. They all headed back inside, where a celebration party was already underway in the Gryffindor Common Room. Persephone ran up to get her CD player and Endy went with her.

"If you don't mind," she said, searching through her trunk, "I brought my own CDs."

"What do you have?"

Endaira flipped through her collection, reading off the artists. "Avril Lavigne, Bon Jovi, My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects-"

"My Chemical Romance?"

"Yeah, they're awesome!"

Persephone stuck her finger down her throat and made gagging noises. Endy glared at her.

"Fine, no awesomeness, then. I also have soundtracks, and a few mixes. What do you want?"

"Hmmm . . . bring Bon Jovi, Avril, Rejects, and your mixes. That, with what I have, should probably be good." Persephone lifted up her CD player and Endy followed her back downstairs where Harry was being congratulated. Someone shouted for him to open the egg. Too late, Endy didn't cover her ears in time.

A loud screeching resounded throughout the common room. Everyone covered their ears and cringed at the awfully high-pitched sound until the golden egg was finally closed.

"What was that?" Seamus Finnigan asked. "Sounded like a banshee. . . . Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" Neville exclaimed. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George Weasley. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing . . . maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."

Smothering their laughter, Persephone and Endaira went over to a corner where Darren sat, waiting for them. Persephone slipped a CD into her player and The All-American Rejects blasted throughout the room.

_Don't solve the problem_

_When danger is better_

_Far away where you stock them_

_In cages that tether_

_--_

_And all the bridges you've burned_

_Leave you trapped off at all sides_

_And now the tables do turn_

_And it's all gone, what's left for you_

_--_

_And when the sky is falling_

_Don't look outside the window_

_Step back and hear I'm calling_

_Give up, don't take the fast road_

_It's just your doubt that binds you_

_Just drop those thoughts behind you now_

_Change your mind_

_You let go too soon_

_-----_

Soon, Professor McGonagall made the announcement about the Yule Ball. Endaira suddenly felt nervous. She had never gone to a dance with someone before. What if nobody asked her?

Persephone, on the other hand, was very confident about herself. She had her eyes set on a handsome sixth year in Ravenclaw, and often purposely made detours just to bump into him "by accident."

Remembering how Hermione would get her date, Endy wondered if it would work for her. If not, then at least she'd be able to finish her Potions essay without all the _giggling_ in the common room.

She chose a table and sat down to write the essay on the principle ingredients of a Confounding Concoction. Forgetting all her worries, she became immersed in the essay, eager to finish it before class on Friday. It startled her, then, when she looked up to see a guy standing in front of her.

-----

Darren watched her from behind the bookshelf in the Invisibility Section. It was now or never, he decided. He was going to ask Endaira to the Yule Ball.

He took a step forward, and stopped. There was a Durmstrang student standing in front of Endy's table. Quickly, Darren stepped back behind the bookshelf so that he would not be seen.

Peering through the stacks of books, he could see Endy and the Bulgarian. Holding his breath, he listened closely to what they were saying.

"Hi, erm, my name is Vladimir. I'm sorry if I don't know your name-"

"Endaira," she told him politely.

"Endarra," he repeated. "I vas vondering, vould you go to the ball vith me?"

Endaira smiled shyly. "Sure."

Darren felt as if there was a lead weight in his stomach. He had been planning on asking her to the Yule Ball ever since the end of term last year when he realized how much he liked her. Twice, he had come close to asking, and finally, when he thought nothing stood in his way, _Vladimir_ comes along and asks her first.

Turning away, he left the library in low spirits. _Who was Vladimir to ask her, anyway? He didn't even know her name!_

Not paying attention to where he was going, Darren bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," he told the girl he'd walked into. "I wasn't paying attention."

"It's okay," she said.

"You're Hannah Abbott, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Say, do you, um, want to go to the ball with me?"

Suddenly she giggled. "Yeah, sure."

Darren smiled. "Great. I'll meet you in front of the Great Hall the day of the ball, then?"

Hannah nodded, still smiling, and quietly walked off, telling him she had to go do something.

Darren turned to leave when he heard his name called. Turning back around, he saw Endy running towards him. He felt a pang of remorse when he remembered what he had just overheard.

"Guess what?!" she asked once she'd caught up with him.

"What?" He tried to play it cool, like he didn't already know.

"I got asked to the ball!"

"Oh, really? That's great. Who asked you?"

"One of the Durmstrang students. His name is Vladimir."

Darren nodded and continued walked.

"What about you, Darren? Asked any girl yet?"

"Yeah," he told her. "Hannah Abbott."

"Oh, she's a nice girl," Endy replied, somewhat flatly. "Well, I've got to go. Bye."

Endaira quickly walked away, acting as if what he'd just said hadn't hurt. If anyone, she had wanted Darren to ask her to the Yule Ball. When Arasik had asked her over the summer if she liked anyone, her thoughts had strayed to Darren. However, when Vladimir approached her, she decided that it was better to accept his offer than to wait and see if Darren would ask her himself. And this now confirmed that he wasn't interested in asking her.

Endy sighed. She just wouldn't let it faze her. What was a silly little crush anyway?

_So much more, _something deep inside told her, but she quickly brushed the thought away.

-----

All too soon, the winter holidays arrived. Those who weren't staying (a small percent of the school) left on the train. The grounds were blanketed in snow and everything was like a winter wonderland. On Christmas Day, Endaira awoke to find her Hanukkah presents at the foot of her bed. Eagerly, she began to open them as around her the other girls opened their Christmas gifts.

From her parents she received a make-up kit ("Perfect!" squealed Persephone, who had finally gotten the Ravenclaw to go to the ball with her), a CD from her sister, and three pairs of fizzy slipper socks that she loved from her brother. Arasik and Hikari sent her a dreamcatcher and incense. From Hermione she received a book on Antipodean Opaleyes, and from Persephone she received fancy hair accessories. Finally, Darren gave her a charm to add to the bracelet she wore constantly. It was in the shape of an "E." With a smile, and a sad heart, she added it between the dragon and the shooting star charms.

Endaira spent the day in the common room, writing in her journal and reading from her new book. Finally, around five o'clock, she headed upstairs to get ready. She showered and changed into her dress robes. She styled her hair by twisting it into a bun, but leaving half of it hanging, and kept it in place with a large fancy clip from the accessories Persephone had given her. As an added touch, she sprayed some sparkly stuff in (it came with the make-up kit her parents had sent) so that her hair shimmered when she turned her head in the light.

For her make-up she applied a light purple eye shadow, mascara, and some lip gloss. Satisfied, she and Hermione left to meet Viktor Krum and Vladimir at the edge of the lake. Only a few people were milling about in the common room, and none of them glanced at the two girls as they left through the portrait hole.

As soon as they stepped outside, they were hit by freezing cold air and a sense of wonderment. The grounds had been transformed for the night. A path had been created, leading to the Beauxbatons carriage and the lake. It was lined with rosebushes which were lit with thousands of fairies and statues of St. Nick and his reindeer.

Smiling at each other, Endy and Hermione set off in the direction of the lake and the Durmstrang ship. They were met halfway there by the Durmstrang students themselves. Viktor stole Hermione away from Endy, who waited for Vladimir, who was near the rear of the group. As he drew nearer, Endy studied him.

His black hair was slicked back and his icy blue eyes were sharp in the light of the moon and fairies. He wore bright red robes and as he stepped forward, she saw large black boots. For some reason, she thought of Gaston, from _Beauty and the Beast._

"You look booty-ful," he told her as he took her arm and led her back towards the castle. She smiled, trying not to giggle at his pronunciation of the word "beautiful."

As they entered the Entrance Hall, Endaira scanned the crowd for Persephone and Darren. She spotted Persephone easily – she was talking enthusiastically to her date. However, she was still searching for Darren when the doors to the Great Hall were opened.

-----

Darren had met Hannah in front of the Great Hall as planned. He was watching the front oak doors, waiting for them to open. Finally, they did. Viktor Krum led the Durmstrang students in with Hermione at his side.

Darren discreetly searched the rest of the Bulgarians and their dates for Endaira, while Hannah complained about Ernie MacMillan beside her. So far, Darren had gathered that they had been going out, but he had dumped her for a Beauxbatons girl.

Finally, Endaira appeared at the very end of the group with Vladimir. As soon as Darren saw her, she took his breath away.

She wore purple robes with a scattering of silver stars along its hem that sparkled in the fairy light spilling in from outside. Her hair was piled up, and appeared to have thousands of stars scattered throughout it. Her face seemed to glow with an unnatural light that instantly drew his eyes to her hers.

It was at that moment that Darren Cay fell in love with Endaira Rezagrats.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

-----

Vladimir led Endaira to a table where several other Durmstrang students sat with their dates. Vladimir introduced his friends, but Endy had trouble remembering their names and which one went with which face. As far as their dates, there were two Beauxbatons girls, a Ravenclaw fifth year, a Hufflepuff sixth year, and Katie Bell, form Gryffindor, whom Endy sat next to at the table.

The feast started and they began to talk. Endaira just listened to the conversations around her as she ate her shrimp alfredo until Katie spoke to her.

"Hey, Endaira, who's that girl with Viktor Krum?" she asked quietly.

"Hermione," Endy replied. Katie gaped at her.

"_Hermione?!_ Merlin, look at her hair! She looks beautiful!"

"You don't look half bad yourself," Endy told her. Katie was wearing blue-green robes and had her hair half pulled back by a sparkling green barrette.

"Thanks. So, how's your, erm, dragon?"

"Selena? She's fine."

"I saw you riding her," Katie mentioned. "You should try riding a broomstick. Then you could try out for Quidditch next year."

Endaira shook her head. "I'm not really into sports."

Katie shrugged and turned toward her date, who was asking her a question.

Finally, the plates were cleared away and the Weird Sisters came out to much applause. The champions and their partners began the dance, and were quickly joined by teachers, and soon after that, students.

"May I have this dance?" Vladimir asked Endaira, holding out his hand.

"Certainly," Endy replied, taking his hand and allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor. He took her left hand in his right and placed his left hand on her waist. Slightly unsure, Endy placed her free hand on his shoulder and allowed him to take the lead.

They danced to the slow, mournful beat until the music changed and everyone relaxed and began to dance faster. Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson went a little farther and were causing others around them to back away for fear of flying limbs.

After several songs, Endaira told Vladimir that she needed a break. He took her outside and they found a bench between Prancer and Dasher with a fairy bush behind it.

"You ride a dragon, right?" he asked her, slipping his arm across her shoulders.

Endaira nodded as she gazed at the stars that were shining in the black sky.

"Ve heard of you and your friends in Bulgaria," he went on. "No one believed it, though, until ve came here. Vhat is your dragon called?"

"Selena," she told him as she picked out the three dots that formed Orion's Belt.

"She is booty-ful, just like you."

Suddenly, his hand was no longer on her shoulder, but traveling close to her breast. Endaira gasped and stood up, pulling away from him. Turning around, she slapped him across the face.

"Vhat-?"

"What were you thinking?" she shrieked. A passing couple glanced at her uneasily and quickly hurried on. "Do you think I'm easy? Well, think again, _Vlad._"

Before he could say anything more, Endaira stalked off. She couldn't _believe_ he would do such a thing. Try to feel her up – what a jerk!

She walked back inside and past the Great Hall. Instead, she headed upstairs to the Gryffindor Tower, interested only in changing and showering away the feeling of the Romanian's hand near her breast.

After she had done this and was dressed in comfortable pajamas, Endy opened her journal to a clean page and wrote furiously, venting out her anger on the page.

_December 26__th_

_Tonight was the Yule Ball. I went with one of the Bulgarians. His name is Vladimir. Now that I think about it, his name makes me think of Vlad the Impaler – a.k.a., Count Dracula. _

_Anyway, it started out alright – the ball, that is. We ate and danced, but then he took me outside where we sat on a bench and talked._

_Oh, yes. And he tried to feel me up._

_Don't worry. I slapped him. Hard, I hope. Jerk!_

_So I left the ball early and came up here._

_Ara, you remember last summer how you were trying to find out who I liked? Well, I'm telling you and Hikari now._

_Darren Cay._

_Yes, yes. "Oh my God, our Endy has a crush." Don't goad over the fact, please._

_You see, I was sort of hoping he would ask me to the ball._

_But he didn't._

_I took Vladimir's offer instead._

_Oh, how I wish I hadn't._

_I have nothing else to say tonight._

_Bon soir, mes amies._

_-__Endy_

Not the least bit tired, Endy began searching through her trunk for a book to read. There was nothing under the pile of clothes she tossed aside but some extra notepads. Moving these aside, she stopped.

There, at the very bottom of the trunk was a bag. Confused, Endy picked it up and felt a rectangular object within it. Suddenly she remembered the day, not long ago, in Diagon Alley when she had found this strange book in the back of Flourish and Blotts.

Endaira quickly pulled the book out of the plastic bag and sat back on her bed. She pulled the curtains shut around her, even though none of the other girls were back yet. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was only a quarter to eleven.

She took a good look at the leather-bound book again. The designs were still there, and the same foreign words. Endy tried to figure out what language it was. The letters were a mixture of swirls and sharp angles. It was neither Hebrew, Arabic, or Ancient Greek, as far as she could tell. She opened the book itself and began flipping through the pages – which she quickly realized were made out of some animal's skin as well.

"I wonder how old this book is," Endy muttered to herself. She looked for a publishing date, but found none. So she studied the first few pages. The words were in the same language as the title, and appeared to be hand-written. There were spots here and there were the ink blotted and others where it faded. There were two things Endy could see that were consistent on each page. One was a fancy line that she assumed marked the end of each passage, because of its placement, and in the top right-hand corner of each page was a small drawing of an eight-pointed star.

Finally, Endy turned to the back cover. She ran her finger over the grooves of the handprint and hesitantly held her _gedwëy ignasia_ over the handprint. Just as before, a shock leapt from the book to her hand, causing her to draw her hand away. Curiosity took over, and she slowly placed her hand on the book so that it fit perfectly into the handprint.

Endaira gasped as a bright white flash of light blinded her. She shut her eyes and tried to pull her hand away, but it would not move. It was like her hand had been cohered to the leather.

Just as soon as the light disappeared, Endaira felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She tried to shake it off, but that only increased the pain. Suddenly information was being poured into her mind. It was too much for her brain to take in, so it shut down.

As Endaira's limp body fell against the bed, her hand slipped off the strange book. This, in turn, fell off of her lap and landed, open, beside her on the bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

-----

Endaira woke up and suddenly wished she hadn't. A splitting headache was throbbing at her skull. It felt as if someone had taken an axe to her head and left it embedded in her brain.

Wondering what caused her to wake up, her answer came in the form of a shrill noise. At first she thought that it was Harry's egg, but then she realized that it was _singing._

_I don't have to try_

_To make you realize_

_Anything I wanna do, anything I'm gonna do_

_Anything I wanna do I do_

_And I don't have to try_

"Who's singing so goddamn early in the morning?" Endy groaned, yanking back her curtains. She blinked in surprise to see sunlight streaming in from the window. Pain erupted in her head and she winced, shielding her eyes from the brightness.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Hermione said from her bed where she sat writing a letter. "Then again, it's the afternoon."

"Afternoon?" Endy repeated with a groan.

_I don't care what you're sayin_

_I don't care what you're thinkin_

_I don't care about anything_

_Get ready, get ready cause I'm happening_

_I don't care what you're sayin_

_I don't care what you're thinkin_

_I don't care about anything_

_Get ready, get ready cause I'm on the scene_

"Who is singing that?" she moaned, holding her ears.

"Persephone, why?"

"She sounds like a banshee. Ugh, I have a headache."

Hermione got up and walked over to the bathroom. Endaira didn't pay attention to what she was doing until the singing ceased.

"Thank you," she told Hermione.

"Anytime. How's your headache?"

"A little better now that she's stopped." Endaira laid her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Endaira, were you drinking last night?"

"_What?!_" She snapped her eyes open and quickly regretted doing so. "_No._ Why would you think I'd do something like that?"

Hermione shrugged. "It's just that, I didn't see you much last night. What happened?"

Endaira sighed and closed her eyes. She was debating whether to tell Hermione what happened or not. Hermione must have thought she'd fallen asleep, because Endaira heard her get up to leave.

"He tried to feel me up."

Hermione stopped.

"Who did?"

"_Vladimir._"

"Oh my God, Endy. Why didn't you come get me?"

"I handled it," she assured her. "No big deal. Ruined the ball for me, yeah, but it wasn't how I thought it would be in the first place, anyway."

"How so?"

Endaira bit her lip and rolled onto her side. Her headache was subsiding now, and for that, she was grateful.

"Hermione, could I tell you something? And you promise not to tell _anyone_?"

"Yes."

Endy hesitated before blurting out, "I've got a crush on Darren."

Hermione gasped. "Oh my God. Really? That's so . . . cute!"

"Cute?"

Hermione shrugged. "So, you wanted to go to the ball with him instead?"

Endaira nodded and sighed.

Unsure of what else to say, Hermione went on. "So, what did you do after Vladimir tried to, um, you know . . ."

Endy cringed at the thought. "I came up here, showered and changed, and then I-" She trailed off.

"What?"

Endaira looked down at her hand. The pale white oval was still there, where it had always been. Except, there was something different about it. When Endy moved it so the light hit it at a different angle, there appeared a darker shape within the oval. It was an eight-pointed star.

"Weird," she muttered.

"What's weird?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you see, I was looking at this book I found over the summer at Flourish and Blotts," Endaira explained while searching for the book in question. She found it lying on her bed, open to a hand-drawn picture of a purple dragon soaring through the air. Endy closed the book and showed the handprint to Hermione, who had come to sit beside her. "I put my hand on this, there was a bright light, and then . . ."

"What?"

"That's all I remember," Endy said, frowning down at the handprint.

"What's it called?" Hermione asked, turning the book over in her hands.

"It's in a foreign-" Endaira broke off with a gasp as she stared at the cover of the book with the strange words. Only, they no longer seemed strange to her.

"What? What is it?"

"I – I understand it." Endaira didn't know how or why, but the language suddenly became clear to her. As she read over the words, in her mind, she was repeating them. She whispered them out loud, surprised to find the words rolling off her tongue almost as if it were natural to her.

"What does it mean?" Hermione asked.

It took less than a second for the English translation to come to Endy's mind.

"_The Code of the Dragon._"

-----

_Selena! _Endaira mentally called. It was later that night and she was standing atop the Astronomy Tower. Persephone had cut her conversation short with Hermione when she came out of the bathroom, humming. Then Hermione had left to "see Viktor" – as she put it – and Endaira was left with Persephone. She was debating on whether or not she should tell Persephone about the book when she decided to talk to Selena about it first.

The dragon in question landed heavily on top of the tower. Endaira quickly climbed on – double-checking the leg straps – and Selena took off into the winter night. The cold air bit at Endaira's cheeks, and she was grateful she had thought to wear a sweatshirt.

_What is it, Endaira?_

Endy sighed and explained to the Opaleye what had happened with the book she had found in the back of Flourish and Blotts. Selena listened carefully and said nothing until Endaira finished her story.

_That would explain things, then._

_Like what?_

_Well, I woke up this morning feeling like I knew something but I couldn't place my talon on it. Just now as you repeated those foreign words, I understood them, too, even though I've never heard them before._

_That's probably because of our bond, _Endaira said as they flew over the glassy lake.

_Yes, and that's not all I found different about me._

_Oh? What else?_

Selena landed beside the lake and asked for Endy to get off. She landed in the snow and shivered as it began melting into her shoes.

_Look on my snout._

Endaira trudged around to face Selena, who was level to her eyesight. Endy peered at the dragon's snout, but on account of the darkness, couldn't see anything, and so told Selena.

_Use your magic._

_Right. _"_Lumos,_" she whispered. The tip of her wand was lit and she held it up, looking at Selena's snout.

As the pearly sheen of her scales changed color in the light, Endaira saw what Selena was talking about. There, seen only when the light hit it at a certain angle, was the shape of an eight-pointed star. It was identical to the one on her hand in every way except that it was larger on the dragon.

_What does it mean?_

_I don't know, _Selena answered. _Perhaps that book will tell us._

-----

Endaira sat on a love seat by the dying fire, using every last bit of light to read from _The Code of the Dragon_. It was well past midnight, but she was too immersed in the book to take notice. She didn't look up form the book until someone sat down beside her.

"Hey," Darren said. "Why are you up so late?"

"Reading," she answered, indicating the book in her hands. Darren looked at the page she was opened to and frowned.

"Please tell me you're just looking at the pictures," he said.

Endy shook her head.

"But how can you understand it? I've never seen that language before! What on earth is it?"

"Draconian," Endaira replied. Before he could say anymore, Endy filled him in on everything about the book. In her reading she had found out that it was the writings of an ancient Dragon Rider named Eramus who called the language Draconian. He said it was the language of the dragons, but even at the time in which the book was written, it was beginning to be forgotten by riders and dragons alike. Endaira had also learned that he, amongst the only others who knew the language, called themselves "Magistri."

"So, you can _read_ this?" Darren asked, amazed. "And _understand _it?"

She nodded.

Darren thought about it.

"May I?"

"May you what?"

"Do what you did, and learn Draconian."

"Are you sure? It hurt like hell."

"Positive."

"On one condition."

"What?"

"I get to finish reading it first." She grinned at him.

Darren smiled back. "Deal."

Endaira gave him the book and he stood up to leave, but stopped when Endy voiced another question.

"What about Persephone?"

Darren thought about it. "We can tell her later. Let's read it first and then give it to her. Tell her about it, though, okay?"

"Sure." Endaira yawned and stood up, too. "Well, I'm off to bed. G'night."

"Night, Endy."

Darren watched her head up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. As soon as she disappeared, he reached up and placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart.

He never knew a girl could affect him in this way. She was the only thought on his mind, and whenever he saw her or was near her, his heart would start pounding, and he'd be afraid that she'd hear it.

But what affected Darren most of all was her smile. When she had smiled at him, he felt as if his heart had melted.

Darren sighed and headed upstairs with the book Endaira had given him. Tonight, he would learn the language, even if it pained him to do so.

_Because, _he thought, _what can be more painful than unrequited love?_

-----

When Endaira awoke the next morning, the first thing she did was check on Darren. Luckily, the other occupants of his dorm were gone when she arrived there.

"Darren?" she whispered, opening the door. Glancing at his bed, she saw that his curtains were closed.

Walking over, she pulled them back and peered at the bed. Darren was lying on the bed, the book lying haphazardly on his chest with his hand on top. Endaira stared at him, wide-eyed, as the breath caught in her throat.

She never knew that Darren slept without a shirt before.

His chest was slightly bronzed, fading away from the summer, and perfectly chiseled. Endy didn't tear her eyes away until she heard a groan and felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

"Oh, my _head_."

Recollecting herself, Endaira replied, "I told you."

Darren winced and propped himself up on his elbows. He squinted up at her.

"What time is it?"

"Ten."

"Ugh. I'm going back to sleep, then." He fell heavily back onto the pillow.

"Mind if I take the book first?"

Darren handed it to her.

"Thanks." She took the book and left, heading downstairs to read.

Over the next few days, before the end of break, Endaira finished reading _The Code of the Dragon_ and handed it off to Darren. Endy told Persephone about it, who asked to try it, but realized she couldn't, because the next morning they were due back in class.

When Endaira and Darren arrived outside Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures, it was to find an elderly witch in the half-giant's place. Her name was Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she was filling in for Hagrid.

"This is because of Rita Skeeter, isn't it?" Endaira whispered to Darren, who nodded.

They followed Professor Grubbly-Plank around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were. They came to a tree where a pure white unicorn was tethered to its trunk. Professor Grubbly-Plank warned the boys to stay back while the girls went ahead and petted the unicorn. Endaira carefully reached out and ran her fingers across its silky smooth muzzle.

"A unicorn's horn, blood, and hair all have highly magical properties," Professor Grubbly-Plank was saying when the unicorn suddenly let out a high-pitched whinny and reared back on its hind legs. The girls crowding around it quickly drew back, Endaira included. When the unicorn returned to all four legs, it did something strange. It bent on of its forelegs and bowed its head.

And its horn was pointed directly at Endaira.

"I've never seen anything like this," Professor Grubbly-Plank muttered, looking back and forth between the unicorn and the girl.

"Endaira," Hermione whispered. "I think it's your hand."

Endy looked down at her hand, with its gedwëy ignasia and the eight-pointed star. _Why would the unicorn bow to her because of _that

Suddenly the unicorn moved. It had sensed something and was moving away form the students.

"I told you to stay back!" Professor Grubbly-Plank snapped.

Endy glanced behind her to see Darren stopping in his tracks. He put his hands into the air, almost as if he meant no harm.

A snort came from the unicorn. Endy turned back around to see that it was returning to its previous position. Only this time, it was pointing its horn at Darren.

No one spoke. Everyone stared at the two Dragon Riders in wonder and amazement.

Finally, Professor Grubbly-Plank broke the silence.

"Cl-class dismissed."

The rest of the class back away slowly and started heading back to the castle for the next lesson. The last to leave were Endaira and Darren.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine **

**-----**

Over the next few days, Darren and Endaira were the talk of the school. People looked at them wherever they went. Whispers floated by them as they walked down the hall. By Friday, Endaira was fed up. Fortunately for her, though, the second task was approaching quickly, and the topic of the unicorn's strange behavior was dropped. Eventually, everyone forgot about the incident in Care of Magical Creatures, except for Endaira, who pored through _The Code of the Dragon_ hours on end in hopes of finding an answer.

"Face it, Endaira," Darren told her one night. "It's not in there. You've been through that book hundreds of times. Heck, it doesn't even _begin_ to explain the significance of _this_." He pointed to the eight-pointed star on his gedwëy ignasia.

Endaira nodded and sighed, closing the book and grabbing a roll of parchment to begin her essay on Magical Fungi of North America for Herboloy. She just wished that she could find some sort of answer.

There was another matter at hand that decided to reappear the night before the second task. Endy was just descending the stairs from the Astronomy Tower – where she had just left Selena – when she heard her name called.

"_Enndairraa . . ._"

She stopped in the middle of the stairwell. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck tickled as they stood on end.

"Who's there?" she called.

The ghost. It was the apparition of the little girl. She was more prominent now, with a torso, arms, and legs. Her eyes were still dark holes, however. She was hovering over the stairs, feet dangling, so that they were eye to eye.

"_Help him, Endaira_," she whispered.

"Help who?" Endaira asked in frustration. _Why wouldn't this girl just come out and say who she was supposed to help?_

"_Don't you know?_" The little girl cocked her head to the side.

"No," Endaira replied, shaking her head.

The girl opened her mouth to say something more, but then she disappeared, as if she had no more energy to stay in the living world. Endaira looked around for any sign of the apparition and sighed. This was starting to get on her nerves more than anything. How was she supposed to help a person if she didn't even know who he was?

-----

Endaira cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindors as the champions' scores were announced. Then Darren, Persephone, and she headed back with the rest of the crowd to the castle.

"That was actually rather boring," Darren commented. "An hour of waiting."

"That's why I brought a book to read," Endy said proudly.

Darren stuck his tongue out at her. Endaira replied by sticking her own tongue out back at him.

Darren's heart skipped a beat when he saw Endaira cute little pink tongue appear for a brief second. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and he was glad that at that exact moment, Endaira looked away from him.

Little did Darren know, someone _did _see the blush on his cheeks. And that person knew right then and there just how he felt about Endaira Rezagrats.

-----

"I'll be right back," Endy told her friends as they passed by Honeydukes. "I have to get my sister some more chocolate. She keeps badgering me about it."

"Mind if I come with?" Persephone asked.

"Not at all."

"I'll be at the Three Broomsticks if you need me," Darren said, heading in the direction of the pub.

The door jingled as the two girls entered the sweets store. Endaira began looking through the assortment of candy for something to get her sister, and possibly her brother, too.

"So," she began, "how's thing with what's-his-name? Paul?"

"Patrick," Persephone corrected, looking at a box of Ice Mice. "And I'm over him."

"Oh? Why?" Endaira picked up a box of licorice wands for her brother.

Persephone shrugged. "All he ever did was talk about himself. It was rather dull."

Endaira shook her head and took a piece of chocolate from the sample rack.

"So, what about you and Vlad?"

"Oh, I never told you. He tried to feel me up at the ball." She popped the piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"What?!" Persephone shrieked, causing several people to look at her. Lowering her voice, she said, "Why didn't you tell me when it happened?"

Endy shrugged. "It was no big deal. I slapped the guy and left."

Persephone looked thoughtful. "Did you tell Darren?"

"No," Endy replied.

"_Are_ you going to tell him?"

"No. He would make a big deal about it and probably dismember the guy. You saw what he did to Malfoy, remember?" Endaira took another chocolate and popped it in her mouth.

"Not about _that_. About how you _feel_ about Darren."

Surprised, Endaira swallowed the chocolate and began choking. Persephone patted her back until she managed to swallow the large chunk of chocolate. Once she regained her breath, she turned on Persephone.

"How do you know about that?" she hissed.

Persephone smiled mischievously. "I was listening at the bathroom door when you told Hermione."

Endaira tried to be angry that her friend had eavesdropped on a private conversation, but couldn't. Instead, she looked her friend in the eye.

"Promise you won't tell Darren?"

Something flashed in the blonde's grey eyes, but it was gone within a second.

"I promise."

Endy smiled. "Good."

"So, I take it you're not telling him, then?"

Endy blushed and shook her head. "It's not like he would like me back or anything."

Persephone muttered something under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Endaira frowned but brushed it off. She paid for the licorice wands and a pound of Honeydukes chocolate ("This should last Anale a while," she told Persephone) and they left the store. Together they headed over to the Three Broomsticks. Spotting Darren at a table in the corner, they quickly bought butterbeers and joined him. Somehow, Persephone made it so that Endy ended up sitting between her and Darren. Endaira threw a glare at her friend, who pretended not to notice.

Finally, at about a quarter after three, they decided to head back to the castle. As they walked down High Street, they met up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were all discussing something quietly.

"Hey," Persephone said, gaining their attention. The trio quickly stopped their conversation.

"Okay, fine then. Act like you're not talking about anything we don't know already."

Harry blinked at her. Ron scratched his head. Hermione grinned.

"Snuffles says, 'Hi'," she said with a wink before dragging Harry and Ron off to the castle.

-----

It was around the middle of March when Darren learned about what Vladimir did to Endaira at the Yule Ball.

"Hello, Endarra," a voice said as someone sat next to her at the Gryffindor table during lunch. Endaira looked around to see Vladimir sitting sideways on the bench so that he was facing her.

"Who said _you_ could sit here?" she asked coldly, narrowing her eyes.

"Vell, you see, Endarra. I vas vondering if you vanted to come see me at the ship tonight. I haven't seen you in a vile."

Endaira stared at him. _Was he serious?_

"After what you pulled?" she replied, standing up. "I don't think so." She started to walk away and t hen turned around. "Oh, and Vlad? I suggest you don't come near me _ever_ again."

With that, Endaira stalked out of the Great Hall. Five minutes later, Darren caught up with her.

"What was that all about?" he asked her.

Endy cringed. She hadn't wanted him to find out this way. In fact, she hadn't wanted him to find out period.

"I – I just don't like him anymore," she lied.

"Why not?"

"He tried to feel me up at the ball,"

Darren's expression darkened.

"He did _what?!_"

"Darren, it's no big deal. I slapped him and left. Sure, the night was ruined, but-"

"But he touched you, Endaira! Who knows what else he might have done?" By now Darren was furious.

"Look, Darren," Endy said, stepping back. "I'm glad you're concerned for me, but I can handle my own problems."

"I'm not saying you can't, Endy! Why didn't you tell me? Hell, I would've made sure he never even _thought_ about coming near you again."

Endaira sighed and shook her head. "There's nothing you can do about it." She started to walk away.

"Are you so sure about that?"

Endaira spun around.

"Darren, please listen to me! Don't get in a fight just because of what the guy did _once_! I took care of it! There's no need to cause a ruckus!"

"No one's causing a ruckus," Darren muttered. "I'm just going to castrate him."

"Darren!"

"What?!" he snapped, eyes flashing. He glared at her for a second, but slowly his eyes softened. Endiara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Darren, I don't want to see you get hurt-"

"I won't get hurt, but as for _him_-"

Endaira held up a hand and he stopped.

"He has lots of friends, Darren. If you go at him, they'll be sure to back him up. Besides," she added, as an after thought, "you'll get in trouble."

"I won't get in-"

"Darren," Endy cut him off, silencing him. "Please. Just promise me you'll lay off of him?"

Darren sighed. He looked reluctant to do so, but he gave her his promise.

"Good. Now, let's go, or we'll be late for Charms."

-----

The next day at lunch, however, it was clear that Darren wasn't planning on keeping his promise.

Across the hall, at the Slytherin table, sat Vladimir with his friends. They had just finished eating and were all standing up.

A hushed silence fell over the Great Hall, traveling from the Slytherin table to the Gryffindor table. First years stood on benches to see over the tops of heads of older students.

And then people started laughing.

"Vhat? Vhat is so funny?" Vladimir asked. One of his friends pointed down and Vladimir looked in that direction.

He let out a girlish shriek.

He had stood up, but the seat of his pants didn't follow. The pants in question were pooled around his feet. All that was left were a pair of _pink_ boxers.

Frantically, Vladimir started to run from the Hall, but fell flat on his face. Quickly he clambered to his feet and awkwardly ran from the Great Hall.

While the rest of the school laughed, Endaira threw a glare at Darren, who was grinning proudly. As soon as he saw her look, though, his smile faltered.

Endaira stood up and walked away from the table. Darren, no longer feeling so proud of his handiwork, followed her out into the Entrance Hall.

"Endaira-" he started.

"Why did you do that, Darren?" she snapped, spinning around.

"Well, I just thought that Vladimir deserved-"

"I don't care what you thought Vladimir deserved! You broke your promise to me!"

Endy didn't wait around to hear any more from him. She ran upstairs and hid out in the library until class.

Meanwhile, Darren stared off in the direction she went.

"Man, you _really_ screwed that up, didn't you?"

He glanced around to see Persephone. He sighed and shook his head in remorse before trudging off in the opposite direction. After a minute, Persephone left, too, in search of Endaira.

-----

Five minutes later, a broom closet door opened and Vladimir stepped out. He had been hiding there while he attempted to return his pants to their correct position. Hearing voices, he had stopped and listened to Endarra and that boy whom she hung around with.

"So it vas this Darren who did this to me," Vlad had whispered to himself. He had quickly waved his wand and his pants flew upwards.

Now he stood in the Entrance Hall, a plan formulating in his mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

-----

"Endaira, have you seen Darren?" Persephone asked that night as they left dinner. They climbed the stairs, heading back to the dormitory.

Endaira cringed, thinking about how she had snapped at him. "No. He wasn't in Care of Magical Creatures."

"I wonder where he is?" Persephone muttered.

As if in answer, the broom closet next to them groaned.

"What on earth?" Endy asked, opening the door.

Inside, propped up on a bucket, was a prone figure. It was too dark to see who it was, though.

"_Lumos_," Endaira muttered, holding up her hand. She gasped and dropped to her knees next to Darren.

"What is it? Oh, my," Persephone whispered.

Darren was unconscious. His face was bruised and swollen, one eye was turning black and blue, and he had cuts everywhere. And there was something that looked suspiciously like blood matting his hair.

"Help me," Endaira said, slipping an arm under Darren. Persephone took his other side, and together they lifted him up and started for the Hospital Wing. Darren groaned and rolled his head to the side.

They were halfway to the infirmary – they had to stop often to take breaks and adjust their hold on the unconscious boy – when a voice spoke behind them.

"What's going on here?"

Endaira glanced over her shoulder to see Fred and George Weasley.

"Here," Fred said, taking Persephone's place while Endy gratefully gave her place up to George.

"So, what happened to him? Get in another fight?"

"Most likely," Endy sighed.

They reached the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey, who had just finished bandaging up a Hufflepuff's arm, fell upon Darren. She ushered the twins to place him in a bed and turned to Persephone and Endaira.

"What was it this time?" she asked, bustling around.

"We think he got in a fight," Persephone replied.

"Figures," the nurse muttered. She opened one of Darren eyelids and shined her wand light into his pupil. "He has a concussion."

"Is he going to be okay?" Endaira asked.

"Yes, he should be just fine. I'll keep him overnight. He should be up by tomorrow." The nurse left, muttering something about potions.

"Well, if everything is just dandy here, we'll be leaving," George said, as he and his twin started to leave the infirmary. They were throwing secretive glances at each other.

Once they had gone, Persephone turned to Endaira.

"Wonder if they're still trying to get their money back from Mr. Bagman?"

Endaira nodded. Just then, Madame Pomfrey returned and shooed them out, claiming her patients needed their rest.

"Well, I'm going to head back to the common room. I still have that Charms essay to finish," Persephone said.

"Okay. If it's alright with you, I'm going to go ride with Selena."

Persephone nodded and they headed off in two different directions.

When she reached the top of the Astronomy Tower, Endaira silently called for Selena and waited. Silently she watched the night sky as one by one stars appeared.

"_Ennddaiirraaa._"

Endy shivered and turned around to face the girl who was haunting her. Her form had clarified some, becoming more solid and less . . . wispy.

"I told you," she said, "I don't know who you want me to help. Why did you choose me to help him anyway? Why not someone else?"

"_Because, you are the only one who can save my brother,_" the little girl told her calmly.

"Your brother?" Endaira repeated. _Finally, _she thought. _Some headway._

_Headway for what? _Selena's voice cut into her thoughts as the great white dragon landed beside her. The ghost girl was gone in a flash. Endaira sighed and turned to Selena, who sensed that there was something wrong and inquired about it. Endy climbed onto her back first and as they flew, she told her everything that had happened concerning the ghost girl.

_. . . and this ghost won't tell me _who_ I need to help. Heck, maybe I should ask when or why her brother needs saving in the first place. Her brother! Why didn't she just say that in the first place?!_

_Maybe she can't remember, _Selena suggested as they passed over the Forbidden Forest.

_Well how can she not remember? If she'd contacting me about him, then she _must _know!_

_Not necessarily, Endaira. It could have started off as a feeling of endangerment that caused her to come looking for you._

_But why me?_

_Perhaps she feels a certain connection between you and her brother._

_Unfortunately, I don't even know who the guy _is.

Selena landed on the Astronomy Tower and Endy slid off.

_Don't worry, Endaira. I'm sure you'll learn the identity of this mystery person soon._

With these last parting words, the Opaleye took off.

-----

The next night found Endaira sitting beside Darren's bed, scratching furiously at her Ancient Runes homework. Contrary to what Madame Pomfrey had said, Darren had _not_ woken up around noon. It was six o'clock and he was still unmoving.

Endaira sighed and crumpled up the ruined piece of parchment. Just as she started writing on another piece, she heard a groan and looked up.

Darren stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked up at the ceiling and the looked at Endaira.

"I told you that you would get hurt."

He groaned. "Please don't gloat about being right. I learned my lesson, okay?"

Endaira frowned. "I wasn't gloating, Darren. In fact, I was really worried about you. You've had a concussion, and Madame Pomfrey said you were supposed to wake up five hours ago."

Darren winced. "Sorry I made you worry."

"Oh, it's no big deal. To compensate, I brought you your homework."

"Aw, Endy," he whined. She looked him straight in the eye-

-and suddenly wished she hadn't.

Her heart began beating faster in her chest. Endaira felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared straight into Darren's clear blue eyes.

What she didn't notice was that Darren was feeling the same way.

Finally, Endaira managed to tear he eyes away form his captivating ones. "I – I have to go," she whispered, unable to think of an excuse. Quickly, she gathered up her homework and left.

Darren kept his eyes pealed to the spot Endaira had just vacated. His heart was beating so fast that it almost physically hurt. He couldn't get the beauty of her eyes out of his head. He had wanted to kiss her – to reach out and stroke her cheek, her hair . . .

"Ah, Mr. Cay, I see you're finally awake," Madame Pomfrey said as she came over. Darren felt her cold fingers press against his neck. He looked up at her as she frowned.

"Your pulse is rather quick." Darren's eyes widened, and he tried to clear his mind of all thoughts of Endaira. "I think I'll keep you one more night. Take this potion to help with the concussion."

Darren sat up, wining as pain flared through his bruised ribs, and downed the potion, grimacing at the awful aftertaste.

-----

Endaira opened the door to the dormitory and quickly shut it behind her. Her heart was still beating rapidly, but that might have been because she had run all the way from the Hospital Wing.

Persephone was sitting on her bed, writing a letter, which she quickly hid from sight.

"What's that?" Endy asked, walking over and sitting on the edge of her bed. Grabbing her bag, she began rummaging through it for her Ancient Runes textbook.

"Nothing, just a letter to my mom," Persephone replied, casually throwing the letter into her trunk and pulling out her own homework. "So, how's Darren?"

Endaira sighed. "He's awake."

"Oh, good, so he should be out by tomorrow?"

Endaira shrugged and began reading from the textbook. Persephone decided to head down to the common room, leaving Endy alone.

-----

Selena lifted her snout into the air. She stared at the darkening sky above the forest trees. There was a single bright star shining and a crescent moon hanging low in a dark blue sky.

The Opaleye watched as the sky turned from purple to blue at the horizon. Everything seemed clam and serene until something dark flew across the dragon's vision.

It was black as midnight. At first, Selena thought that it was a bat, but then she heard a hoot.

It was a black owl.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**-----**

No one could figure out how several of the Durmstrang students – Vladimir included – ended up strung from the top of the West Tower by their underwear Saturday morning. When Darren asked her about it, Endaira looked at him innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Darren," she replied with a smirk.

Spring arrived, and with it the anxiety of approaching exams. March turned into April, April turned into May. Outside the weather was beautiful. The sun shined, the grass was green, and a soft breeze blew across the grounds. Inside, students stared out windows, longing to be outside instead of studying for final exams.

On the morning of the first day of exams, Endaira woke up feeling awful. She had tossed and turned all night long, unable to sleep because she felt as if there were a raging storm in her mid-section, threatening to upset that night's dinner.

"You look terrible," Persephone commented, placing her hand on Endy's sweaty forehead. "Merlin's beard, Endy! You're burning up! You'd better see Madame Pomfrey."

"But I have Divination and Herbology-" Endaira cut herself off as she felt the nausea hit her full force. She stumbled to the bathroom and made it just in time to heave into the toilet.

After she cleaned herself up, Endy reentered the dormitory.

"Okay, I'll go. But what should I do about the exams?" she asked, while slipping into a comfortable pair of pants and a t-shirt.

"I'm sure Professor Trelawney and Professor Sprout will let you make them up," Persephone told her as she led her downstairs and out the portrait hole.

When they reached the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey was surprised to see them. Persephone explained to her that Endaira wasn't feeling well while Endy took a seat on one of the beds.

"Let me see, then," Madame Pomfrey muttered, leaning down over Endaira. She asked what her symptoms were, and Endy explained them to her. The nurse took her temperature just to make sure, and found that it was over one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

"Well, Ms. Rezagrats, it looks like you're staying here today. You've got the flu. But don't worry, it's a twenty-four hour bug. Let me just get you a potion and you can sleep it off."

While Madame Pomfrey bustled off, Endaira sighed and lay back onto the pillow. She closed her eyes, and without meaning to, fell fast asleep.

-----

When she woke up, she found an unexpected person placing a damp cloth on her sweaty forehead.

"Darren, what are you doing here? Where's Madame Pomfrey? And why aren't you at your exam?"

Darren smiled. "Exams were over two hours ago. And Madame Pomfrey is attending to some third year whose potion blew up. Poor bloke burnt his nose and lost both his eyebrows. She asked me to do this while she fixed him up."

"Wow, I've been asleep all day?" Endaira said.

"Yeah. You want anything to eat? You slept through breakfast, lunch and dinner."

The though of food made Endaira queasy. It must have shown on her face, for Darren took back his offer.

"I suppose not. Oh, and Professor Sprout told me to tell you that you can make up your Herbology exam on Wednesday after your last exam, and your Divination make up is on Thursday, same time."

Endaira frowned. "But Thursday is the third task."

"Yeah, I reckon so."

She shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like I don't already know what's going to happen."

-----

The next morning, Endaira woke up feeling better and hungry. After Madame Pomfrey deemed her to no longer be ill, Endy headed down to breakfast. She was one of the few people there, and gratefully took her time eating for the first time in twenty-four hours.

"Hey, you're all better," Persephone said, sitting down next to her, while Darren took a seat across from them,

Endaira nodded. "Got a clean bill of health this morning. What's our first exam?"

"You and I have Ancient Runes this morning, and then Defense Against the Dark Arts," Persephone told her.

"And in the afternoon you and I have Care of Magical Creatures," Darren added.

Endaira nodded, and having finished her breakfast, stood. "Well, I'm going to go wait and see if I can study some more."

She left the Great Hall and headed upstairs to the fourth floor where the Ancient Runes classroom was situated. She pulled out her book and settled down to study the magical properties of runes.

-----

Tuesday and Wednesday passed by in a blur. Finally, Thursday arrived. The last two exams, History of Magic and Potions, seemed to take forever as the excitement of the impending task grew amongst most of the population of the school. As they headed back upstairs from the dungeons, Darren and Persephone parted ways with Endaira, who headed upstairs to the North Tower. Darren was just about to follow Persephone inside the Great Hall when he was stopped by Professor Moody.

"If I may have a word with you in my office, Mr. Cay?" the man asked.

Darren nodded and followed the ex-Auror upstairs to his office. He took the seat offered to him.

"What did you want to see me about, Professor?" Darren asked.

Moody chuckled. "Oh, there's no need for formalities, boy. You may call me Barty."

Too late, Darren realized he should have been more cautious. He had willingly let himself follow a disguised Death Eater whose master was going to rise again that very night. Darren stood up and turned around. He ran towards the door and gripped the knob and turned.

As he expected it to be, it was locked.

He turned back around and faced Barty Crouch Jr.

"What do you want with me?" Darren spat, slipping his hand into his pocket and gripping his wand.

"Oh it's not what _I_ want with you, Cay. It's what the Dark Lord wants with you."

Without warning, a jet a red light was speeding toward Darren. He tried to bring up his wand to block the spell, but he was too slow. The spell hit him in the chest, and everything went black.

-----

Endaira read the question again, the perfumed warm air of the Divination classroom muddling her mind.

_When Jupiter hangs low in the Eastern sky and Alpha Centauri is the zenith, what is most likely to occur? A. Death of a loved one _or_ B. The forgotten will return._

Endaira struggled to remember which answer was correct. She remembered that Jupiter was associated with both, but she couldn't remember which one included Alpha Centauri.

Endaira sighed and shivered. She skipped that question and moved onto the next one.

Her quill paused in the middle of writing the answer. Endaira watched her breath come out in little clouds and shivered in the cold air.

_Professor Trelawney _always_ kept a fire going._

Endy looked up at the Divination teacher, and found that she had fallen asleep. Hearing a noise behind her, Endaira turned around in her chair.

It was the girl. She looked almost real, except for a slight translucency about her form. And her eyes were no longer black holes, but actual human eyes.

And she was crying.

"_It's too late,_" she sobbed.

"Too late?" Endaira repeated. "What do you mean?"

"_You're too late to save him._"

"How?"

The girl shook her head, unable to answer the question.

"_I just know that you can't save him now._"

"Who?"

"_My brother._"

"Yes, I know that, but who's your brother?"

The girl blinked at Endaira. And then she spoke, whispered a single name.

"_Darren._"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Endaira stared at the spot where the girl had recently been. Now the space was empty and the chill was gone from the air.

There was a snort behind her. Endy didn't bother turning around.

"Oh, dear, did I doze off? Miss Rezagrats? Are you alright?"

Endaira didn't answer. She stood up from her seat and started walking toward the trapdoor. She climbed down the silver ladder, ignoring Professor Trelawney as she called to her.

"Miss Rezagrats! You have to finish your exam!"

Endy broke into a run as soon as she hit the floor. She flew down flights of stairs and took as many shortcuts as she could possibly take. She raced past the empty Great Hall and burst through the great oak doors out into the night air. Far off in the distance she could see the Quidditch Pitch lit up brightly against the black sky. Faintly she could hear the crowd cheering.

She didn't know what notion brought it to her, but somehow, Endaira knew that Moody had something to do with Darren's endangerment.

_Moody volunteered to take the Triwizard Cup into the center of the maze. Moody, who was really Barty Crouch Jr._

As Endaira ran, she tried not to think about what the ghost had told her. She didn't want to think about what it meant for Darren.

_You're too late._

She burst into the stands and began frantically searching for the one person who might be able to help. Finally, she spotted him in the judges' box some feet away from her. Endaira ran towards the box.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

The Headmaster looked around and saw her running towards him. He rose, and as she neared, she clearly heard Karkarov ask, "What is the meaning of this, Albus?"

Endaira halted in front of the judges' box, panting.

"Ms. Rezagrats, what is it?" Professor Dumbledore asked, looking down at her through his half-moon spectacles.

"It's Darren, Professor."

"What about Mr. Cay?"

"He's in there," Endaira said, pointing towards the maze.

In a flash, Dumbledore was out of the judges' box and guiding Endaira away from listening ears.

"How do you know this, Endaira?" he asked once they were a safe distance away.

"It's . . . difficult."

Professor Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and Endaira sighed.

"I was visited by his dead sister's ghost."

He nodded in understanding.

"I think he's in danger, Professor. She kept telling me I had to save _him_, only, I didn't know who _he_ was until tonight. And by then she said I was too late."

Professor Dumbledore looked around and spotted Professors Snape and McGonagall. He beckoned them over.

"Minerva, Severus, I need you to go into the maze and see if the Cup is still there."

"But, Albus-" McGonagall started.

"Trust me, Minerva. Now go."

The two headed off into the maze and Dumbledore turned back to Endaira.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"You know how Voldemort wanted me to join him last year?"

"Yes, I do."

"I think he's going to try to get Darren tonight."

Darren heard voices. Slowly, the rest of his senses returned. The voices grew louder and then he heard a shout and a soft thud.

He blinked open his eyes and found himself staring at the dead body of Cedric Diggory.

With a start, he sat up, and quickly looked around at his surroundings. He was in a cemetery and could see a small figure pulling Harry Potter over to a tombstone and tying him up. Darren looked down and found that his hand was wrapped in a tight rope that was tied to the Triwizard Cup.

He frowned as he remembered the events in Moody's office, and realized that he was the one who must have tied him to the Cup. What he couldn't figure out was _why_.

Darren searched his pockets with his free hand for his wand. Of course, he realized, Crouch had taken it. How thoughtful of him.

One thing he still had, though, was his gedwëy ignasia.

Darren muttered the spell and the rope was severed in two. Rubbing his wrist where it was chaffed, Darren stood up. He was hidden in shadows, so for now he was safe from Wormtail.

He looked down at the Triwizard Cup and remembered that it was the Portkey. He could reach down and grab it and-

No, he couldn't. How would Harry get back?

Speaking of Harry, Darren could see that Wormtail was putting the finishing touches on the potion which would bring the Dark Lord back to life.

Darren crept closer and hid behind a large tombstone to watch. The potion was already complete and Darren watched as out of it rose the tall form of the Dark Lord.

"Robe me." His voice was cold as ice and Darren gave an involuntary shiver.

Lord Voldemort smiled as he studied his body. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the crippled Wormtail, who was thrown against the tombstone where Harry was tied. Darren watched as Voldemort demanded to see Wormtail's arm.

"Oh, Master . . . thank you, Master . . ."

Darren cringed when he saw the bleeding stump of an arm.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please . . . _please_ . . ."

Darren watched as Voldemort bent down and lifted up Wormtail's left arm. He pushed back the sleeve to reveal a red tattoo which Darren recognized as the Dark Mark. The Dark Lord said something too soft for Darren to hear. The he pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm, causing the traitor to howl out in pain.

"It's all my fault if he dies," Endaira repeated.

"Endaira, stop it!" Perspehone snapped.

Endy had moved into the stands to find Persephone while Dumbledore dealt with the matter at hand. McGonagall and Snape had long since returned with the report that the Twiwizard Cup was, in fact, gone.

Endaira shifted her weight back and forth anxiously. _What if Darren's sister was right? What if Darren died? What if-_

"Endaira, would you stop fretting?! Darren's got his gedwëy ignasia, no matter what happens to his wand."

Endy blinked at Persephone, who was usually never this snappy. She shrugged it off, thinking it was probably just that time of the month again.

"Hey," Hermione said, appearing next to Endaira. "How're you holding up?"

"Okay, I suppose. _God_, why did that ghost take so long to remember Darren's name? I probably could have stopped this from happening sooner . . ."

She had told Hermione and Persephone about the ghost girl who had tried to warn her about Darren's safety. However, neither of them seemed to believe her.

"Endaira, there's nothing you could have done," Hermione told her. "It's impossible to change what happened now. Right now, we have to wait and see what _will_ happen."

Endaira smiled at her friend.

"Listen, I'm going to go find Ron. Try not to worry too much."

Endy nodded and Hermione left. However, she couldn't _not_ worry, and her mind turned towards Darren once again.

A gasp caused her to look at Persephone. She was clenching her teeth in pain and Endy saw that she was clutching her arm.

"What's wrong?"

Persephone looked at her, eyes wide.

"Nothing!"

Endaira frowned at her bluntness. She looked at the arm Persephone was clutching-

-and realized that it was her left arm.

Persephone shifted to move her arm away from Endaira, but Endy was too quick for her. She grabbed Persephone's arm and forced her sleeve up past her elbow. She looked from Persephone's arm to Persephone's face and back down. Clearly marked on her left forearm was a black tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

_ The Dark Mark._


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

"You bitch," Endaira whispered, glaring at the traitor.

Persephone jerked her arm away and pulled down her sleeve, covering the Dark Mark. She smiled.

"Yes, Endaira, I'm a Death Eater."

Something Persephone had said the previous year came to Endy's mind.

"But you said you didn't _want_ to join Voldemort!"

Persephone shook her head. "No, Endaira. I said I didn't want to be _forced_ to join him. I _chose_ to join him when his Death Eaters came to my house the day Hermes came to me."

"But – _why_?"

"_Power._" Persephone grinned.

Endaira didn't know what prompted her to do it, but she raised her hand and with a resounding crack, slapped Persephone across the face.

Just as quickly Persephone struck back, punching Endaira in the gut. Endy gasped and doubled over. Above her, Persephone flicked back her blonde hair and turned away. Endaira straightened up and without thinking, jumped on top of Persephone, who shrieked and tried to throw her off. Endaira hung on by wrapping her arm around Persephone's neck. Together they fell down the stands. Spectators around them shouted and jumped out of the way.

Then the stands gave way to ground. Persephone rolled over so that Endaira was pinned beneath her. The blonde drove her elbow into Endaira's side, and she involuntarily let go of her adversary as she gasped for air. And then she felt a fist connect with the side of her head. The world spun and Endaira felt like she was going to be sick.

Persephone stood over her.

"Goodbye, Endaira. It's a pity you didn't join the Dark Lord."

There was a loud roar and Endaira barely rolled out of the way in time as Hermes landed on the pitch, crushing several of the hedges. Persephone ran over and climbed onto the dragon's back. With another roar, Hermes took off. Endaira scrambled to her feet and watched as he and Persephone disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Wormtail, I'm afraid you have forgotten our other guest," Voldemort said, twirling his wand in his hand. Quick as lightening, he spun around and pointed it directly at the tombstone. Darren had barely moved back in time before the tombstone exploded in a shower of granite. When the dust settled, Darren found himself being pulled to his feet by a masked Death Eater who had Apparated to the cemetery during the explosion. Darren's arms were twisted painfully behind his back and he was forced forward into the center of the appearing circle.

"Hello, Darren," Voldemort sneered as he was brought before him. "I'm so glad you could come."

"Well it's not like I had much of a choice," Darren muttered.

"MacNair, tie him next to Potter," the Dark Lord ordered.

"Yes, Master."

Darren was forced up against the stone next to Harry, who stared at him, wide-eyed. Darren quickly came to the conclusion that neither he nor Cedric had realized that Darren was tied to the Cup. MacNair, the Death Eater, pulled out his wand and waved it. Instantly, the ropes that bound Harry moved so that Darren was bound by them, too.

He was forced to watch as Voldemort strutted about the circle of Death Eaters, picking out names of loyalties and disloyalties. He walked over to Harry, talking softly about Lily Potter's sacrifice. Then he touched Harry's cheek, and he began twitching in agony. Darren suddenly remembered his scar and shouted at Voldemort.

"Leave him alone!"

Voldemort spun around to face Darren. He sneered at him, his slit-like nostrils flaring. Darren glared back at him, staring straight into his reed eyes.

"Silence him, Wormtail," he ordered.

Wormtail, now equipped with a silver hand, pulled out a gag and shoved the bit of cloth in Darren's mouth so that he couldn't speak. He listened to Voldemort as he told his followers how he same to rise again, much to some disbelief.

"Now, Darren," he said, turning to face him, "I want only one thing from you, and that is your loyalty to me. If you join me, Darren, I promise you will have more power than you can ever imagine. So, will you join me?"

Without any hesitation, Darren shook his head no. Voldemort sighed.

"Very well, then. Wormtail, untie them both, and give Harry back his wand. It's a pity our dragon riding friend has to die."

* * *

She couldn't believe it. Persephone had betrayed her. _Persephone_, with her cheery little the-sun-always-shines-on-me annoying attitude, was a _Death Eater_.

_How had she not seen this before?_

Endaira sat on the ground beside the judges' box, while Dumbledore discussed things with McGonagall and the other judges and teachers. After Persephone had departed, McGonagall had started questioning Endy, under the assumption that the two girls were fighting over some petty thing. When Endaira explained to her what she had discovered about her ex-friend, McGonagall called Dumbledore over and related the news to him.

"What's going on?" a voice asked. Endaira looked up to see Hermione and Ron standing before her. She sighed and told them what happened between Persephone and her.

"You mean she was a Death Eater this whole time?!" Ron exclaimed. "And in Gryffindor, too! It's a bloody wonder she didn't kill Harry in his sleep!"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded, glaring at him.

"What?"

"That's _not_ the point! The point is, Persephone betrayed Endaira and Darren."

"I don't think 'betrayed' is the right word," Endy said, picking at a blade of grass. "I think 'deceived' is more like it."

"Why?"

"Because she became a Death Eater long before she met either of us."

* * *

"Potter is mine," Voldemort said. "You, my Death Eaters, can kill Cay."

While Voldemort and Harry began to duel, the Death Eaters turned to Darren, who swore under his breath. He didn't have his wand with him, meaning he only had his gedwëey ignasia. And a lot good _that_ would do against a half dozen armed Death Eaters.

Several curses were shouted at once. Darren instinctively fell to the ground. The spells flew over his head and hit a nearby tombstone, shattering it to pieces. He rolled to his left and was glad he did so when the spot where ha had just been exploded in a shower of dirt and grass.

Darren scrambled to his feet, only to be hit by the Cruciatus Curse. He shouted as white-hot pain coursed through his body. It felt like a thousand knives were cutting him to pieces. It was unbearable.

And then it stopped. Shakily, Darren got to his feet again. The Death Eaters were advancing on him. One of them raised his wand and pointed it at him,

"_Avada Kedavra._"

Darren threw up his hand and shouted the spell for a protection shield. A bright white light erupted from his hand and surrounded him, creating a dome of protection. The Killing Curse hit the shield and, instead of shattering it, was bounced back into the crowd of Death Eaters, who all scurried out of the way.

It took Darren a minute to realize why his shield was able to withstand such a strong spell like _Avada Kedavra_. He hadn't said the spell in Latin.

_He had said it in Draconian._

Just then there was a loud shout. Darren looked over to see Harry running through the tombstones towards Cedric's body. He realized that if Harry got to the Triwizard Cup without him, he'd be stuck here.

Fortunately, Voldemort had given an order and the Death Eaters turned in pursuit of Harry. Darren took this chance and ran towards the same spot as Harry. They reached Cedric at the same time.

"Take his hand!" Harry shouted, and Darren did just so. Harry pointed his wand at the Cup. "_Accio!_"

And then they were gone.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

--

Darren blinked to clear his vision. Above him was a black sky filled with a thousand stars. It was so peaceful, everything was so quiet. . . .

And then noise crashed down upon his ears. He could hear shouting, and amongst that, his name being called.

_Endaira._

He sat up, letting go of Cedric's hand and looked around him. Harry was lying on the ground on the other side of Cedric's body, facedown. Darren could see Dumbledore and the other teachers rushing toward them.

"Darren!"

He looked in the other direction and saw Endaira, pushing her way through a crowd of students toward him. Darren rose to meet her.

"Oh, thank _Merlin _you're alright," Endy said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Darren felt his heart leap to his throat and his stomach flip-flop inside of him.

"Hey, why wouldn't I be okay?" he asked and she pulled away, shaking her head in indication that she would tell him some other time. Darren just wished she hadn't pulled away.

"Darren, Persephone, she-" Endaira sniffed as it really hit her that the person whom she had thought of as her friend was actually her enemy.

"What about her?" Darren asked, confused.

"She's a Death Eater."

Darren blinked. "What? Are you sure? Where is she?"

"Yes, I'm sure, I saw her Dark Mark. She's gone. She and Hermes left some time ago. She deceived us, Darren. I though she was my _friend_."

Endaira buried her face in Darren's shoulder again, wishing that somehow it wasn't all true, that Persephone _wasn't _a Death Eater.

Suddenly she tensed up.

"What is it?"

"Something Professor Trelawney told me last year at my final exam," she said looked up at Darren. "I'd nearly forgotten it until just now."

"What did she say?"

"She told me to remember the saying, 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.'"

--

The next few days were a blur to Endaira. The day after the third task she spent with Selena while Darren took the day to sleep. Selena told Endaira about the black owl she had seen late one night in April. She had forgotten all about it, and now everything seemed to make sense. Persephone had been sending letters to Voldemort since last year.

_And now I understand Hermes behavior, _Selena said as Endaira hopped onto the ground beside the lake.

_What do you mean?_

_I always thought he kept to himself because of our gender differences. I guess it was more than that._

Selena took off into the sky, and disappeared over the treetops. Endaira sighed and sat down next to the lake. She watched the giant squid swim about, making ripples in the water. No one else was outside. After the events of the previous night, no one wanted to be seen having fun when they were expected to be mourning for Cedric Diggory.

--

"Darren, could I talk to you?"

"Sure." He patted the seat next to him, but Endaira shook her head.

"Not here."

Here, being the common room, was where everybody was lounging about, unsure of what to do with themselves.

Darren stood up and Endy led him outside and to the seventh floor. Once they were inside the Room of Requirement, Endy had Darren sit on the single couch in the room. She sat next to him and handed him a book.

"What's this?" Darren asked, reading the title. _The After Life: Messages from the Beyond._

"Read the marked page," Endy told him.

Darren opened the book to the page marked by a slip of paper and read. Endaira waited calmly until he finished and looked up at her.

"What's all this about?" he asked, obviously confused.

"I was visited by one of those spirits this year," Endy said.

"Really?"

"Yes. It was a little girl who kept telling me I had to save someone. It was rather confusing, because, as you read, the ghosts usually visit the loved one whom they feel is in danger. But, she came to me, saying someone else was in danger."

"Do you know who she's talking about?" Darren asked her.

Endaira nodded. "Only, he's no longer in danger. Apparently, I was too late to save him, yet, he didn't die."

"So, who was it?"

Endaira looked straight at Darren.

"Her brother, whose name is Darren."

Darren stared at her. Endaira watched as his eyes widened in realization of what she meant, and then softened in grief.

"_Emily,_" he whispered. Endy could see tears forming in his eyes and so she reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You – you saw her?" Darren asked, looking up at Endy, who nodded. He looked down at the book, still open in his hands. "So, she was a witch, too, than? Which means she would have been entering first year next year if . . ."

He sniffed and looked away at the blank wall.

"I miss her, Endy. I miss them all so much."

"You still have me, Darren," Endaira said, hugging him tightly with all she was worth.

--

The train sped past pastures, meadows, forests, lakes, and much more. Endaira leaned her head against the cold glass and watched all of this without really seeing it. She was thinking about everything that had happened to her that year. From the Yule Ball, to learning Draconian, to finding out about Persephone's true identity.

Endy watched as the train passed by a large mountain range. She let her mind wander away from her ex-friend to thoughts of Selena, whom she had left behind in the Forbidden Forest for yet another summer. Endy concentrated on their link to one another. Fleetingly, she could feel Selena's presence, but very little else. They were too far away from each other for contact anymore.

Slowly the train rolled to a stop. Darren and Endaira departed the train together, and strolled through the barrier that separated Platform 9 ¾ from the Muggle world. On the other side, Endaira could see her father waiting near the barrier for her.

Endaira turned to Darren to say goodbye. Only, when she opened her mouth to say that she would see him at the start of term, she found that she couldn't. Instead, she embraced him in a hug, which he returned.

Then, without saying anything more, Endaira left to greet her father. There really wasn't anything to say, anyway.

--

_**The End**_


End file.
